"On the Wings of the Promise...We Carry Identity and Return"
2001 - Present
Description
A drawing on off-white, lightly textured sketchbook paper, the black spiral binding visible along the left edge. The composition runs in a loose S-curve down the page.
In the upper half a large bird faces left, drawn in outline with a blue eye, a sprig of pointed leaves extending from its beak. Behind it sits a circle, pale yellow on the left, a black-and-white checkered grid on the right that fades at the edges. Below and to the right a second bird's head faces right, with a concentric blue-and-white eye, holding a slender green leafed branch that extends to the right edge. The two bodies merge into a single continuous outlined mass curving down across the center. A grey key with a circular bow, a small green dot at its center, lies horizontally across the middle and overlaps them.
The lower third holds a cluster of simplified houses with pitched roofs, rectangular windows, doors, and a chimney, in brown, orange, ochre, red, and pink. A large grey angular wedge cuts across them diagonally. The whole mass rests on a long tapering black outline that sweeps to the lower left corner.
Black ink carries the linework and dense pattern fill throughout: zigzags, chevrons, crosshatching, parallel bands, dots, grids, and small repeating motifs across the wing area and neck bands. Colored pencil is laid in directional strokes with the tooth of the paper showing. Inscribed at lower left in black ink: the numerals 2025, a cursive signature, and a second line of Arabic script below it.
Artist Notes
The doves carry a story of identity, memory, and an unbreakable promise of return. The Palestinian flag, key of return, keffiyeh, map of Gaza, and homes symbolize belonging, resilience, and life despite destruction. Wheat and olive branches represent the land, fertility, and a peace rooted in justice. From Gaza’s ashes, the painting becomes a cry of love, identity, and freedom toward return
Preservation Notes
PROVISIONAL. All observations below are from visual inspection of a digital image. No physical examination has been carried out. DIMENSIONS Recorded as 42 x 30 with no unit set. The unit field is empty on this record and on all eight works in this collection. Not inferred. Requires confirmation. MEDIUM Recorded as "Fabriano". Fabriano is a paper manufacturer, so this names the support rather than the medium. Visual inspection shows black ink linework with colored pencil applied over it, dry media throughout, no wash or impasto. The medium field across this collection consistently holds supports rather than media. Not corrected; flagged for a cataloguer with access to the source information. SUPPORT AND STORAGE The black spiral binding is visible along the left edge and the sheet shows a curved left margin and a cast shadow at lower right, indicating the page was photographed while still bound in a sketchbook. If the work remains in the pad, that bears on storage, handling, and any future measurement of the sheet. Worth confirming whether the leaf has since been removed. INSCRIPTION Lower left, in black ink: the numerals 2025, a cursive signature, and a second line in Arabic script. The date corroborates the recorded year of 2025. The Arabic line has not been transcribed; automated reading of handwritten script is unreliable and a transcription should come from a reader, not from inference. SOURCE FILE 3024 x 4032 px. Aspect ratio only. Physical dimensions not derivable from the file.
