Gallery > In This Life > Statement

Statement of “In This Life”
September 2007

Back in 1990 and 1991, I had the opportunity to travel through Europe, Egypt, Israel, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Southeast Asia during the turbulent and historically significant political times. It was during the time of unification of East and West Germany after the opening of the Berlin Wall. I was in Israel during the Gulf War and in India when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. After four months of traveling in Europe, I went to Egypt for a month before heading to Israel to volunteer at a Kibbutz.

When I boarded the bus during the trip from Cairo to Tel Aviv, the man behind me caught my attention. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was making sure there was a hiding space under the seat. Just one week prior, the same bus was raided by terrorists and all passengers were killed.

We were escorted by Egyptian soldiers in Jeeps holding huge guns pointed at us and they were ready to shoot any invaders. It was the first time I’ve ever had a gun pointed at me. The soldiers left us at the Suez Canal, and as the bus drove through Sinai, I saw many rusty tanks buried in the desert. The view of Sinai left evidence of old wars and I saw its reality.

My plan was to work at the Kibbutz for six months before heading to Turkey, but those plans were radically changed by the news that Saddam Hussein was planning to attack Israel. By the time I received the news about the war, all flights and ships departing from Israel already were stopped. No Arab country would allow you to enter from Israel with the exception of Egypt at the time. I managed to escape to Egypt by bus thanks to the Japanese Embassy and arrived safely with two fellow workmates and a friend. Upon arriving, I saw television reports of missiles attacking where my workmates and friends were. I tried to call them, but all communications were cut, including those to the Japanese Embassy. I was shocked, worried and had a terrible feeling.

All of my paintings are in some way connected to my life and experiences. The current war situation is the biggest issue that I've been concerned about over the past years. I have many things to say about the current situation of the war as an artist and wanted to express them through my paintings. The war is a controversial topic, but my paintings do not support one side over another. I know that supporting one side over another doesn't help in a world where so many different people live together. The wars through history include religious wars such as the crusades, which resulted in the killing of countless people. Such wars happened because people supported one value, belief, point of view, or culture over another and killed people who had different views than their own. We humans have to learn how to respect different thoughts and beliefs.

In my paintings, I focused on the human drama and the aspects of the human experience such as courage, conspiracy, pride, loss, sorrow, and despair. All my paintings are anti-war, but I tired to convey different perspectives from both the American and Iraqi side to make people think about the misery and sorrow that accompanies war.

After the tragic events of 9/11, countless people were subsequently killed in Afghanistan and Iraq by the rage of a nation towards the terrorist actions. Now many more people, including American and coalition troops, Iraqi civilians and children, journalists and bystanders, have lost their lives. My question is why human beings repeat wars over and over again throughout history? Even though we have seen the tragic results of war throughout history and many people felt that war shouldn't happen again, it unfortunately continues to happen in this modern human society.

Whatever position is taken and regardless of the reason, it is clear that “people are killing each other.” Misery and great sorrow follow any war. Behind these events, many people have lost loved ones—fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, sons, daughters, relatives, and friends. The feeling of grief over losing someone you love is the same everywhere in the world regardless of culture and religion.

Seeing the terrible events of 9/11 and the news about the war in the media and having experienced part of the first Gulf War, I often imagine what it would be like to be a soldier who is facing death in the war zone, or a child who lost her parents when they where accidentally killed at a check point in Iraq, or a mother who lost her son from a terrorist car bombing, or a wife who lost her husband who was working in the twin tower. I often see scenes of terrified Iraqi women walking in the street while soldiers holding huge guns are around them. It’s reminds me how uncomfortable it made me when I experience a similar situation in Israel. I can imagine what would I feel like if I was forced to live in a situation surrounded by such danger and loss.

In the paintings Living in the Dead Zone and Memory, I focused on the victims of the war and created stories based on the actual events. I tried to express the misery and great sorrow that eventually follow the tragic events of war and terrorist actions. In my other paintings Power on the Earth and Novus Ordo Mundi, the first look of the images appear emblematic of American power and patriotism. However, symbolic elements are hidden in the images and when put together, you can see the real intention of the paintings. The last painting Lost expresses a feeling of being lost with no clear way to solve the chaos in Iraq. This feeling of lost is shared by both the Iraqi and American people.

Kumiko S. McKee