I created the arm as a response to the crises in both Palestine and Ukraine that have effected children on a recently unseen scale. In 2022 in Ukraine, the media first focused on the impact of war on children. The conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted about a year after the Russia-Ukraine war. Israel’s targeted attacks on children, particularly their limbs, convey a brutal message. My own children bore witness to these wars through screens, hearing translations of complex issues that they continue to struggle to understand. The violence feels incomprehensible, rooted in long-standing aggression stemming from historical trauma. This war, like many, revolves around money, religion and land. While my daughters know about the war abstractly, their confusion about political actions that effect individual people, prompt deep discussions about the irrationality of hatred.

 

In a moment of reflection, I made a cast of my older daughter’s arm as a symbol of what others have lost. While the cast is created from rhinestones, I want it to represent those affected by war and give them something that reflects a childlike challenge to the oppression of trauma.

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Special thanks to Iduna Abbott Ovtcharov for helping to realize this project. ​

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Source: https://www.savethechildren.net/news/gaza-more-10-children-day-lose-limb-three-months-brutal-conflict

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