I will continue to post my original thread about the silk painting I created as a memorial to those whose lives were lost on American soil on the infamous date of September 11, 2001.
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Several weeks after the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001, I saw a photo of the two towers in Time magazine.The one tower had been hit, and black smoke billowed into that beautiful sapphire blue sky. The second tower in the photo showed another plane heading towards the upper part of that tower. In the front of the towers is a bridge, other buildings, and a river.I stared , and studied that photo for half the day. I guess I was still mezmerized, and stunned thinking of the horror of that day.I can't say exactly why, but I wanted to capture that scene in a silk painting. Maybe it was to pay tribute to something that I felt totally helpless about. Perhaps, it was a cathartic form of therapy.
As I painted that horrific scene, I said a prayer for all the victims and their families.After I finished the painting, I wrapped it in black plastic and laid it in the back of my dark closet.
In the summer of 2002, I had an art show and was gathering up my paintings to take with me. I called an artist friend and asked her if she thought I should bring "The Twin Towers"?
"Sure," she replied, " you're an artist and have licence to capture anything you desire into a painting."So, I brought it along and set it up under my canopy.Many people who saw it, stepped back from my tent, whispering, " Do you see that painting?" Whisper, whisper.I finally re-wrapped it in plastic and put it in a corner of the tent.In 2004, I decided to place it on eBay, see who would be interested in owning it. Actually, I was hoping word would get out to a museum, and they might be interested in having it in their collection of historic memorabilia.But, that wasn't the case. I received such negative comments from eBayers. Who did I think I was to paint that picture? Didn't I care about the people that had died? And, on and on. I finally removed it from eBay.
I couldn't help but wonder if the painters during the Civil War who captured the violent death scenes of that war, on a painting, or paper, were critizied?What about all the other wars of humanity that have been captured on canvas, were their creators chastized?I don't know, and still feel confused.
What do you think? Do you think an artist is wrong for painting the horrific acts of violence against humanity in a painting or drawing?
I also wrote a poem trying to express my emotions of that day:
In The Name Of Allah
A Poem Inspired By The TWIN TOWERS Silk Painting
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH
A confrontation of shadow selves,
Ethereal you, invisible I,
Who try
To Taste the tears of God,
Or run our fingers across
Her smiling lips.
Yet failing, we sink beneath
And hide behind
The brutal waves of ego.
Egos that wear layers of frightening masks,
Called greed, superiority, hate, and power.
We dress in different cuts and colors of cloth.
Demanding our own way,
We raise hands holding guns,
Or fly planes that bomb
Already ruined lands
Into more rubble...
Each grain of sand runs red
With our own blood.
It's all an illusion of Monopoly:
Whoever gets the big blues,
Park Place and Boardwalk, wins.
By: Klaire aka Mystic Silks
