Description
When I decide to do a portrait it is because the gaze struck me. In this case, the image is taken from one of the most beautiful shots by Steve McCurry that I had the pleasure of admiring up close in an exhibition in Bologna.
This little girl is Turkish. Does not speak. His bewildered, incredulous and even accusatory gaze says it all. It questions you, it penetrates you.
I finished this painting just before mid-August, on the eve of the entry of the Taliban into Kabul.
I look at “my litle girl” and see millions of Afghan women and girls, left alone in the hands of a retrograde and humiliating ideology for the female gender.
I wonder why this ideology has managed to make its way and establish itself without too much effort. Obviously there has been some support from the population, which shows how difficult it is to change the macho culture.
May this look make you remember, investigate, reflect on the condition of Afghan women and girls, but also on the 41 femicides in Italy since the beginning of the year.
For them who can no longer see the light or make their footsteps heard or even give us a smile.
I used an acrylic base and pastels and sanguines to finish with the oil colors.
