The tree has been cut down but still puts down strong roots. Just like our ancestors.

Our ancestors are already dead.

But they have left their spiritual heritage to us that gives us power. 

40s: Life Between the Younger and Older Generations

At times, you enthusiastically ride the waves of change and dare to try something new. Other times, you find yourself wondering, "Can't everything just stay the same?" and regretting that you can't keep up with the pace of change.

Amidst these layers of complex emotions, I struggled to find the one absolute truth. Why not acknowledge all feelings as part of us and unite them? In this unity, perhaps lies the harmony between the old and the new, and the possibility to mediate between the younger and older generati

ons.

40m x 40cm

Acrylic, Oil on Recycled Canvas

3rd April 2024

He wandered through the city and was in despair. The job in the company that he had chosen for his safety was not the right thing for him. He could no longer lie to himself.

 When he saw the flowers on the roadside, he remembered: “As a child, I always dreamed of becoming a florist and opening my own flower shop. Should I dare a complete new beginning?‘‘

Suddenly a strange passer-by greeted him and raised her thumb.

He decided to see this as a sign and realize his childhood dream.

This man has often experienced violence, discrimination and betrayal in his young years. But he decides to let go his past in order to start a new life. Nevertheless in some nights the shadows of his past annoy him. When he opens the cellar door a dusty moth flies out. The moth tells him: ,,You do not need to get rid of all the dust of your past. Sometimes it is important to forgive yourself that you cannot forgive at the moment and just move forward towards your own happiness. The time will heal your wounds.‘‘

Beside all the harvest and fruits in autumn you forget the beauty of the autumn flowers. They first flourish when they have lost some leafs. Also for us humans it is even at a mature age not too late to realize his dearest wish or find his big love.

My two homelands are far apart from each other.

The sky above me appears divided and slightly melancholic.

When I am in one home, I miss the other.

You feel half accepted, half rejected for being different.

Constantly seeking a place that fully embraces you.

What can I create through this longing that accompanies me anyway? Is it possible to convey the positive qualities of one homeland to the other? To live enrichment through diversity without imposing it. Building a world where the next generation can coexist harmoniously, learning from disparities rather than pointing fingers at each other. Until the awareness flourishes: I am a world citizen.

'I somehow feel different. Why can‘t I just be like the others? '

We often feel bad when we force ourselves to be like the pretended majority and fail. Let‘s start to accept ourselves as we are. In this way we can start to accept others as they are- Create a world of diversity where all people can say about themselves:

I am right the way I am!

Whom do you listen to when you make decisions? We often obey the voice from outside:  You have to do this, you have to do that. You have to function …

Does this really feel good for you? That what feels good for you is truely good for you, isn‘t it? We human beings are also part of nature and carry an exact inner compass inside us. Why not hear more to our inner voice.

The lively Naomi often caused her mother distress.

Sometimes she ate her brother’s sandwich.

Screamed loudly in public.

Refused to do the homework for hours. 

Nevertheless, at crucial moments the mother felt: Naomi is my wise teacher, who teaches me important things.

Oil Acrylic on cardboard

77.5 cmx97cm

10th September 2020

My parents gave me the name justice. I was very proud of my name.                      But then I became sad.

My name has been used to start Wars and to produce weapons.

There is no winner on the battlefield. 

The battlefield itself is a big loss. 

For little children like me lose their valuable lives and not those who have started the battle.

Why can’t we build peace in the name of justice? 

75cmx100cm  Acrylic on recycled canvas 30th July 2022

In autumn migratory birds move to a place where the temperature is more comfortable.

They fly effortlessly over national borders and walls that humans have built.

Will there be a time where

Citizenships no longer play a role

Anyone can go wherever you want?

Isn’t the place where your heart leads you the right place for you?

All my life I stayed in alleys. It was quite comfortable and I thought: "I belong to the background, because I am part of a minority group." Then the discrimination against my community got worse and worse.  I felt: The people of the majority society were afraid of the strangeness. That's why I wanted to change people's view on my community by moving from the alley to the big stage and presenting myself and the dance of my community as the center of society. Some people will be outraged by the new. But some will be fascinated by the beauty of our dance and will dance with us. Sharing our cultures will create bridges between our hearts which political measures and legal phrases could not achieve for centuries.

In this way it will be forgotten that we were once strangers to each other. Our children will no longer see themselves as victims in a fringe group but as the center of society. My intuition will guide me and is my only safety. Many ancestors who have paved the way for me support me. They had turned their backs on fear for the same reason as I did: They had no choice but to flourish.

The gray flower always doubted herself, "The other flowers have such beautiful colors. They can make the people happy. In contrast, my gray color is so inconspicuous. Besides, I’m so weak and sensitive, that I could fall over at the slightest wind. Does it even make sense that I bloom and show myself to people? "

At that moment the gray flower heard a voice that came both from above and from deep inside. "The other flowers are beautiful indeed. But you, as a gray flower, allow yourself to recognize your unique worth. Everything has a higher purpose. So there is a reason why you are grey. Through your gray color and sensitivity you can show people: A human being's fault cannot be clearly divided into light and shadow/ good and bad. When you see the gray zone in between, people can forgive themselves and others. In this way they will try to solve the real roots of the problem without continuing to blame individuals. This is how we can create a more loving world."

The gray flower resolved, "I will accept the given circumstances and bloom with pride."

Collective traumas of different nations,

Rooted in many generations,

collided on this land. 

The loss of valuable human lives was relativized,

justified and instrumentalized, 

to keep on killing from the river to the sea.

May we one day accept our traumas, 

So that different religions and nations can live together,

In peace based on equal rights for all.

This idea may sound like a lie.

But I want to believe in this beautiful lie.

The death of a loved one taught me:

My mission is to live.

There must be a reason why this place is called:

The Holy Land