What a great evening!
All finalists painted live in front of an audience.
There was a lot of interest in my work and I have received plenty of encouraging comments.
This is a portrait of a young, beautiful and idyllic-looking Haitian girl
playing with butterflies. I met her during my travels through Haiti,
where most people survive on less than 1$ per day.
She is totally oblivious of her origin.
She does not understand, why she is consistently ostracised and
bullied. Her skin is white, and her eyes are baby blue. She definitively
stands out!
She has never heard of Poland. Her home is on a little island called
Petit Goave.
She is a descendent of Polish legionnaires, who were sent to Haiti by
Napoleon to suppress an uprising of slaves. However, having realised
the extent of exploration and abuse, the Poles changed sides and
fought in support of the oppressed indigenous people. Subsequently,
most of them were punished and slaughtered. A few lucky ones
managed to disperse to the islands.
HYPNOTIC REPETITION 