Najwa Al-Amin
I am alive
oil on canvas, 24x36"
$750
Once upon a time when I lived in Baghdad during the gulf war, my family, like most families in the cities, decided to leave big cities in fear of air raids; we found refuge at our relatives who are farmers.
I remember standing in the vast open fields, I remember seeing the line of the skies meeting earth in the horizon, I remember in a dramatic slow motion moving my eyes from the horizon to the open skies , and telling myself no fighter plans can ever cover those beautiful calm open skies, I felt peace inside me and the image of those skies are still vivid in my mind. I painted that scene many times since then...
When I read the first 2 verses of the poem
I am a feather on the bright sky
I am the blue horse that runs in the plain
You see, I am alive, I am alive
I stand in good relation to the earth
The scene of the open fields meeting the vast skies came back.
And the painting happened.