The Cry That Remained began with a photograph of a young girl crying in a war zone, an image that stayed with me and demanded a response.
Created through torn newspaper, fragments of words, acrylic and oil paint, paste, alcohol effects, texture and expressive marks, the work was not carefully planned. I allowed the layers to build intuitively until the child's face became the quiet centre amongst all the movement.
She is surrounded by fractured headlines, turbulent colour and traces of human stories. Within the layered surface, the quieter image of a mother holding her baby can also be discovered, a subtle presence of tenderness and protection amid the unrest.
I was not trying to reproduce the photograph perfectly. The painting became my response to seeing a child caught in circumstances no child should have to understand.
The Cry That Remained holds the feeling left behind when an image touches us so deeply that we need somewhere to place what we cannot express in words.
Part of Childhood Interrupted, a collection of four original mixed-media artworks reflecting on children affected by conflict, the struggle for basic necessities, and the loss of childhood through circumstances beyond their control.
Read the Studio Diary: When an Image Wouldn't Leave Me
Medium: Mixed media collage with paper, acrylic and oil on canvas
Dimensions: 30 × 40 cm
Year: 2026
Framed — ready to hang
The Cry That Remained began with a photograph of a young girl crying in a war zone, an image that stayed with me and demanded a response.
Created through torn newspaper, fragments of words, acrylic and oil paint, paste, alcohol effects, texture and expressive marks, the work was not carefully planned. I allowed the layers to build intuitively until the child's face became the quiet centre amongst all the movement.
She is surrounded by fractured headlines, turbulent colour and traces of human stories. Within the layered surface, the quieter image of a mother holding her baby can also be discovered, a subtle presence of tenderness and protection amid the unrest.
I was not trying to reproduce the photograph perfectly. The painting became my response to seeing a child caught in circumstances no child should have to understand.
The Cry That Remained holds the feeling left behind when an image touches us so deeply that we need somewhere to place what we cannot express in words.
Part of Childhood Interrupted, a collection of four original mixed-media artworks reflecting on children affected by conflict, the struggle for basic necessities, and the loss of childhood through circumstances beyond their control.
Read the Studio Diary: When an Image Wouldn't Leave Me
Medium: Mixed media collage with paper, acrylic and oil on canvas
Dimensions: 30 × 40 cm
Year: 2026
Framed — ready to hang
