Witness

Will you witness them, us, me… you? If the fires one day reach your skin, I pray that others will witness you as more than just a body count.‘ This piece was a second attempt at one I had tried to create for a previous show. I was so hard on the paper of the first attempt that the surface eventually gave way, the paper pilling and peeling, and I couldn’t help but feel defeated by some wood pulp and pigment (granted, those are powerful elements). But it wasn’t defeat—my second try, the one you see now, speaks volumes louder than my initial attempt. Within this piece, ‘Witness,’ I hope the humanity, tears, and stories of many can speak so loudly that we cannot forget them. May we witness, rather than turn away.

I would love to leave with you a poem by Palestinian poet Fadwa Tuqan:

Enough for Me
Enough for me to die on her earth
be buried in her
to melt and vanish into her soil
then sprout forth as a flower
played with by a child from my country.
Enough for me to remain
in my country’s embrace
to be in her close as a handful of dust
a sprig of grass
a flower.

(Sourced from Mille World)