When I first started this painting the idea was to have a hand holding a cup with a latte and some pretty heart shaped latte art on it. It was a dedication to my love for Paris. But while I was starting on this piece I was listening to the news about bombings in Aleppo.
I don’t know what made me change my idea, but I felt I had to create something more meaningful than a cup full of love. It seemed like every time I turned on the news it was always about Syria. At that moment I couldn’t imagine the horrors of being a hospital worker being bombed while trying to help others. I wouldn’t let myself go there. It was saddening and frightening to say the least.
I had to make some statement though, so I decided to keep painting and the title came immediately…‘A Cozy Morning in Aleppo’. It’s meant to be ironic when you’re in a major city of a war stricken country. There’s no coziness for it’s citizens-young, old, weak, or strong, but perhaps for one brief moment in a tiny corner of dark solitude one can feel a false sense of ease, but only for a moment. I wanted to capture that moment. The hands holding a cup of morning joe create a deformed heart shape. The bullet in the center drops into the cup held by the heart-shaped hands. The bullet is meant to be the irony in this short tranquil scene. It’s just plain wrong, but it is what it is.
So what was meant to be a painting about love and happiness, actually turned out to be something difficult, saddening, and extremely challenging for me. But also at this point in time most satisfying to create. Ironic.
This piece is available for purchase. Feel free to email me at tanphotos@tearntan.com for details.
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Ironia (A Cozy Morning in Aleppo)
16×20 acrylic on canvas
2016 © Tear-n Tan. All Rights Reserved.
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