2024-Present: To witness a live genocide

I create art to capture moments—both big and small—that have shaped me as a person, as an artist, and as an activist. Over the past year and a half, I’ve been struggling with a deep sense of grief and helplessness while witnessing, learning, and unlearning the realities of occupation and colonization in Palestine.

As the daughter of immigrants shaped by the legacy of the 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan, many aspects of this struggle felt familiar to me. However, as an artist, finding my place—my role—in this moment has been much more challenging. How do you convey something so painful and so urgent?

This series of work is my attempt to do just that. It reflects various moments of witnessing a live genocide unfold in Gaza, while sitting in the safety and comfort of my own home. It’s a reflection on complicity, on distance, and on bearing witness.

Lost for words!

Acrylic, 18 x 24

To inquire about the work or commission a piece, please contact at sumayyaansari@gmail.com