The Romani Holocaust survivor painted boots, barbed wire, smoke and smiling soldiers. As the daughter of survivors, the images felt horrifyingly familiar.
Stojka painted metaphorical fire and people flying through flames. In Gaza, a world has vanished in smart bombs and foolish bombings. Credit : Rainer Jensen / DPA / AFP
The paintings and drawings of artist, activist, writer, lyricist and Holocaust survivor Ceija Stojka are currently on display at The Drawing Center in New York City.
Comprising more than 60 works, the exhibition « Ceija Stojka : Making Visible » is gripping from the moment your eyes fall upon it. Surprising, yet familiar. Each piece on its own, and all of them together. From the figurative to the expressive and almost abstract, the paintings convey the horror Stojka experienced as a child : the boundless cruelty and power she faced, the beauty of nature desecrated and corrupted by that evil, and the erasure of every living person.
I am a daughter of survivors. Every painting and drawing by Stojka told me something about my parents that I had never asked them, or had forgotten, or suppressed.
To view more paintings by Ceija Stojka click here
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