Abstract
My body of work is an exploration of raw human emotion, psychological states, and the resilience of the human spirit, shaped profoundly by the ongoing suffering and resistance of the Palestinian people. Through this series of paintings, I strive to give voice to collective grief, inner struggle, and quiet strength. Much of the emotional palette I draw from grief, fear, resistance, and hope is deeply influenced by witnessing the genocide[1]and systemic oppression in Palestine. The red in my paintings is deliberate, my way of symbolizing standing in solidarity with Palestine, and more specifically, with Palestinian women whose strength, suffering, and silence are too often ignored. In each work, red becomes not just a color, but a cry—a mark of protest, of unity, and of mourning.
[1] United Nations Human Rights Council, Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, "Israel Has Committed Genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission Finds," OHCHR, September 2025, https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/09/israel-has-committed-genocide-gaza-strip-un-commission-finds.
Recommended Citation
Shadfan, Alaa
(2026)
"Echoes of Loss: Exploring Palestine and Feminism Through Art,"
Gatherings: Vol. 3:
Iss.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://fisherpub.sjf.edu/gatherings/vol3/iss2/2