Shells

2013

“Two large-scale photographs—Gratitude and Shells—are related to the sculptural work and show two children playing amongst a sea of discarded shells on a beach. The garb and location give a sense of timelessness to the images: this could be a century ago or it could be today. The universality of these images is unequivocal: crises in Syria, Sudan, and many more countries today may take their worst effect on children, who are make up a vast majority of the world’s refugee population. The innocence of the young girls, who seem to not understand the implications of their playthings, is representative of a generation born into a struggle they did not create. How they navigate through that existence depends on education and experience: how does one transcend the conflict when that is all that she knows? As Slavoj Zizek has purported, the true ethical test for mankind is not just about saving victims, it is about the annihilation of the perpetrators. Could these young women be the future annihilators of a militaristic regime?” Dr. Kathy Battista, 2014