Sorrow and Suffering, a Diptych Commemorating the Tragedies of our Time

Human history is sadly saturated with sorrow and suffering, a theme resonates strongly with me. In 2003, I made a diptych of oil paintings, titled “Sorrow and Suffering”, to record the pain people suffered and will suffer at the hands of ruthless and/or reckless political leaders, when George W. Bush was brandishing his excuse to invade Iraq.

Diptych - Sorrow and Suffering / 雙面圖 - 悲哀和苦難 / Diptychon - Traurigkeit und Leiden
Sorrow and Suffering
Oil on Canvas
36″ x 24″ & 36″ x 24″
Completed in 2003

Since that fateful invasion, the unstable Mideast became ever more explosive and the human suffering ever escalated. Yesterday a series of concerted attacks on civilians in the great city Paris shocked and saddened the civilized world and this diptych expresses my feeling aptly.