Transitions
I am exploring the journeys made by people seeking asylum, examining both individual and collective perspectives.
Borders
2017
Charcoal, graphite, ink pencil and print. 136 x 70.5 cm. As the basis for my paintings and drawings, I use real stories of groups of refugees crossing borders using thermal photography and a boy smuggled in a suitcase. Even though refugees are individuals, policy makers and the media tend to treat them as a group, as a collective. This way of categorizing refugees then filters down to the host population who see refugees as 'them/other', in opposition to 'us', giving rise to all the threatening repercussions to which such a viewpoint often leads.
Adou
2017
Oil and spray paint. 120 x 120 cm. The painting entitled Adou is based on an X-ray of Adou Outarra, an eight-year-old boy who was found hidden in a suitcase while trying to escape from Côte d'Ivoire to Europe. The boy was found on May 7, 2015 by Civil Guard agents at the border post of Ceuta - a city that, along with Melilla, is one of the two territories belonging to Spain on Morocco's Mediterranean coast. Hidden in a suitcase, without any ventilation, shrunken and covered by blankets, he showed the world the dangerous methods often used by human traffickers - who profit from the thousands of Africans who try to reach Europe every year. The image also serves as a reminder of what can be done to reach Europe. Civil Guard officers reported that Adou was in "a terrible state" when they found him and that the situation "could have had a tragic ending." The boy's parents and sister - who live legally in the Canary Islands - had not managed to obtain a visa for Adou to enter legally, as the family's financial income was too low. Once the family made it from war-torn Côte d'Ivoire to the Canary Islands on a boat full of immigrants, Adou - who had stayed in Africa with his older brother - tried to join them on an overland journey. Adou's father, Ali Ouattara had paid for his son's illegal journey to Europe, however, he claims he was unaware that the trip would be made in a suitcase and that he thought he would cross the border on his Ivory Coast passport and that a visa would have been bought for him. The man is currently on trial. Belonging to Spain, Ceuta and Melilla are the only two territories in Africa under the jurisdiction of the European Union. For migrants, they represent the gateway to Europe, so many people cross the border illegally in containers or in goods vehicles. Thousands of others try to reach Europe through these territories by scaling six-meter concertina fences that were erected around both cities in 2013. Another method is by swimming from beach to beach on both sides of the border. The fences have not stopped the flow of migrants, in fact, according to data from the NGO Human Rights Watch, the numbers have increased, from 2,804 in 2012 to 4,300 in 2013. Since his reunification, the family has moved from the Canary Islands to Madrid due to the attention Adou was receiving, being known as "the boy with the suitcase".
Aleppo Man
2017
Photo installation, wood frame, paper bag and oil paint. 136 x 70.5 cm. Original picture by Joseph Eid courtesy of Getty images. This image made on wallpaper is a reproduction of the photograph taken by AFP agency photographer Joseph Eid (AFP/Getty Images) that went viral after its publication on March 9, 2017. The image of Mohammed Mohiedin Anis - 70 years old - shown smoking a pipe while listening to music on his gramophone, surrounded by rubble and dust, in his totally destroyed bedroom in Aleppo, Syria. Photographer Joseph Eid tells Time magazine, "He told us that he still uses the gramophone very often because it works without electricity. He invited us to listen to some of his vinyl, but said he couldn't listen to music without smoking his pipe. He put on one of his favorite songs, a traditional Arabic tune by Syrian singer Mohammed Dia al Din. He feels so attached to his past and to the objects he always pampered and loved, that without them he would lose his identity. Hence his perseverance to stay and reclaim his life." Anis, also known as Abu Omar, was first interviewed in early 2016 by the AFP agency, when he was living in a rebel-held neighborhood. Before the war began, he had been a keen collector of antique cars (he owned as many as 30), but as the conflict progressed and territory changed hands between the government and the rebels, his collection dwindled. AFP's Beirut bureau chief Sammy Ketz and photographer Joseph Eid returned to Aleppo in early 2017 to follow up on the man's history with the vintage car collection. A third of Abu Omar's cars had been stolen or destroyed. "When one of my cars is bombed, it's like a relative has been shot," Anis told AFP. Abu Omar had been a wealthy man, speaks five languages, studied medicine in Italy and had owned a lipstick business. His two wives and eight children had left Aleppo, but he decided to stay at home.
Boundaries
2017
Barb wire, latex and oil paint
136 x 70.5 cm.
Pain
2017
29.7 x 42 cm.