ORPHANS OF HOMELAND" Refugee Children II

By Zafiro Storm

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Essay / Creative Non-Fiction
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The War Diary Series was conceived as an artistic project during the War Crisis in Ukraine.
The brief writing, which is detailed here, belongs to the events that occurred at that time, in real time.
Exactly, I'm talking about March 18, 2022.
It says like this:
Exactly, I'm talking about March 18, 2022. It says like this:
"Refugee Children II"
Refugee children from the invasion of Ukraine arrive in different parts of Europe
In Spain they are alredy being schooled, and attended in educational centers, linguistically and psychologically
How will the adaptation be after the trauma experienced that still echoes in their little heads?
What will be the sense of identity, lost after fleeing from their homeland?
Returning to the discourse from then, the development of the work and its derivatives. Understanding that at that moment we were in the midst of warlike horror.
Something unheard of for old Europe.
She, who still alleviated the reminiscences of the Second World War, and united the different cultures that coexisted in her territory. He was assisting, once again, the design forged by the geopolitical condition of the strip on its eastern flank.
Called “proxy wars”, they are known, in this way, as war conflicts that are provoked at a distance by both sides to generate an imbalance in the environment, apart from the conquest of territory.
The US government was not only interested in Ukraine as a “possible member” of NATO, a fallacious and future promise that served to stimulate Ukraine's desire for independence from Russia.
At the same time, they exploited the wealth of the “second breadbasket of the world” (cereals) and of course, crude oil (black gold, oil).
It is well known about the business of the US presidency on Ukrainian territory.
Even so, the network is more extensive.
Just as Russia has sponsored independence parties in Europe to cause schisms and erosion. An example of this is Catalonia compared to Spain.
The US did exactly the same with Ukraine, with respect to Russia.
At first glance it seems like the same geopolitical move. But, both extremes “have played”, perpetrating a massacre, a war. I explain it.
Proxy wars are mousetraps. Bottlenecks.
Involving and undermining the rest of the European territory.
Let us remember that fossil fuels and emerging renewable energies are the antipodes of a new paradigm that was voraciously disputed.
Bordered by Spain as an “energy island” and closed by Russia and the war in Ukraine to protect the still existing crude oil reserve in its territory. Being, in turn, a border crossing with the Arab countries and its current strip between Palestine and Israel.
They tried, very subtly, very coldly. Only suitable for European sensibilities. Debating Europe, as is happening with the disputed strips in Arab territory.
Let us remember how the German gas pipelines were canceled and even partially devastated, so that the geopolitical head of Europe, Germany, had to give in to Russia, and in this way, the United States could offer alternatives to the rest of a power-hungry Europe.
In Spain there was a great commitment to green energy.
In France, a boycott of the gas pipeline corridor that supplies Spain to the rest of Europe, demanding its pink energy, French nuclear energy.
Each tried to lead the new paradigm and geopolitically the distribution of power in Europe was forced to erode its hegemony.
As always, children have served as war propaganda and have been and will be the greatest victims.
In fact. Wars are power games.
They are agreed upon and calibrated games, which displace true games, and these are the heritage of children.
In this way, usurping their identity and their development. Generating conflicts of such intensity, and that being the ability to play perversely, and thus be able to call it War.
When I speak of children, I speak of the innocent and incipient vision of a world that represents exoduses of lives that drift towards interests that are outlined, long before they are even born.
Well, geopolitics is a design with many layers and smoke curtains, which clothe the will and mentality of the society that builds its security, in diapers. Like orphaned children who contemplate how the identity of the world does not exist. Not just for them, for everyone. Because in reality, they have discovered, it is a CONSTRUCT.
Short Film / Performing Arts Submissions
The Importance of the Arts and Humanities? (required)
To be honest. My main impulse related to art has come from a need to know others. Of psychological uptake. I love the portrait. It's powerful. It's direct. It doesn't deceive.
But, in the last four years, I decided to go further, and I put it aside to address emotions that I needed to express.
After the Covid pandemic, I lived it in a very analytical way, my interest in going deeper was not so much psychological, but rather emotional. Existential.
The war in Ukraine had a huge impact on me. The threat continued, and the escalation of violence against the population with apocalyptic messages, compelled me to seek relief. And it was art.
Since then, I combine art with humanities.
For me it was a discovery to talk about what worried me and affected me in order to cope with it. What I didn't know was that it was going to help me on a personal level.
To know myself, to be more assertive and to put myself in the spotlight with uncomfortable topics that helped me trust in myself as another voice, that could help interpret and reveal the harsh reality, and at the same time, heal my wounds. .
We are co-responsible for our existence and have the ability to build a multifaceted mirror in which to look at ourselves. It enables us to be stronger, not to lose our freedom and exercise our right of expression. Something that is constantly at play.
The artist is an activist of reality. He is an alchemist of emotions. And in depth, the most liberating critic that society has.
If you were to receive one of Mia Funk's artworks, which one resonates with you the most and why? How is your creative work in dialog with this artwork? (required)
The Series of works with which I connect the most is The Memory of Water
Perhaps you have more preference for central works. In which the only figure acquires the burden of the message.
The larger and more detailed works, and elements, are of very special aesthetics and beauty. Ethereal. Subjugating. They create an atmosphere that connects the viewer without forcing them. It's very emotional.
On the other hand, in the works from this same series, in which a single element or figure stands out, a mixture of dreaminess and tension that being there implies is created. Not to dive, not to get lost. To be an active part.
I connect with his work because of its symbolism and emotion and because of its message.
Among my works I talk about geopolitics, fossil fuels, the new energy paradigm, and climate change.
This last one, “Climate Change” has been a desperate cry for me. I have experienced it with great intensity because I was painting for four years in an area of Spain where it is now impossible to spend the summer.
I went to live on a lonely, natural beach
I only painted and related to the sea, the wind, the sand. Their states and colors. With the simplicity of the same day to day.
It has been the time in which I have received the most responses, the most I have connected with myself and the most I have suffered. But I melted down. I was wildly free.
It is something I will always treasure.
The worst thing was coming to live in the city again, where the heat is more tolerable. My health suffered so much that I had to flee from there and look for a colder area where I could get relief.
It positions me to lead a more nomadic life, and with which I do not connect in the same way. Although I have learned to carry the sea within me. And somehow, it soothes and calms me when the noise is unbearable.
My way of dealing with these topics is more acidic, more critical and torn. I create parallels of a comparative and critical nature, such as prehistoric climatic periods.
Comparing the limitation at the level of intellectual faculties of the current human being, more focused on the ephemeral and peremptory than on what sustains him. There is not so much difference with prehistoric man if we think about the lack of consistency in knowing where he is going and safeguarding what is essential. What sustains us in life.
Brief Biography (required)
ABOUT THE ARTIST
My relationship with art is given by the education and passion that I received from my mother's side. It was, has been and always will be the engine of my life. My childhood and adolescence were spent in a very complicated environment. After a major depression, at the age of 17, I decided to enter The School of Art. I graduated in 2001 with honors from the EADT of Catalonia in the specialty of Jewelry Design (1996-2001) Obtaining Honors in the Final Degree Project for "La Escuela Llotja de Barcelona" (School that evaluates all artistic careers in Catalonia, Spain) That same year, in which I finished my career as a Jewelry Designer, I was selected by the "Sebime" Contest to represent my school EADT as the best student of my class at the "EUROBIJOUX 2001 International Jewelry Fair" in Menorca, Spain. The same year, 2001, I was the winner of the Illustrious "FAD JEWELRY AWARD" in Barcelona. After obtaining the FAD award, I was selected by BARNAJOYA and the FAD Awards to exhibit at "The BARNAJOYA International Jewelry Fair" 2001 Two years later, in 2003, the DDI (Department of Design and Innovation) of the Ministry of Science and Technology of Spain selected me and included it in its database, among the best designers in Spain. My collaborations with artists began to take shape years before, as was the case with the international sculptor Rufino Mesa, with whom I collaborated from 1997 to 2006. I spent a few years away from art in general, and from my career as a jewelry designer, when my mother fell ill with cancer in 2004. I dropped everything to be with her, we got over it, but she relapsed and died in 2008 It was in 2010 when I returned, internationally, with my first painting exhibition “LA HUELLA IMPRESA" at "Art House Gallery and Studios", Brooklyn, NY In 2013 it was my turn to go through cancer, it was a moment that marked me forever, I lived it alone, and art, once again, was my strength I resumed my collaborations as a visual artist in 2015, this time, participating in "El Milagro" by international artist Abel Azcona at "The Gray Square Gallery", Spain Once again, I was summoned, the same year, to participate in "DES-ENTERRADOS" Performance and Exhibition by Abel Azcona and, curated by Marisol Salanova at the "Conde de Rodezno" Art Gallery, Spain. In 2015, I participated in "The 30th Anniversary of the BMW Painting Awards" in Madrid, with the portrait exhibition "FOUR ROOMS" I was interviewed by the Cultural Magazine "ACENTO CULTURAL" in Madrid the same year, 2015, about my international artistic career Interview echoed by Revista Fahrenheit, México D.F, publishing my painting series "Anthropomorphe" in the press. IN 2017 I was selected by the Department of Culture of Cádiz to reside for 3 months and exhibit "LA QUE NO TIENE NOMBRE I" in the Castle of SANTA CATALINA I was selected again with the exhibition of the Painting Cycle, "LA QUE NO TIEA NOMBRE II", the same year, and I exhibited at the PÓPULO Gallery in Cádiz. Both exhibitions dealt with the world of flamenco and its most influential representatives. Upon my return, I suffered a stroke as a result of the chemotherapy I received years before and the treatments I continued to take to prevent relapses. I kept clinging to art, and I overcame that setback on my own, as I also did with breast cancer at the time. In 2018 I was selected to exhibit the artistic installation FEC (these are the initials of the chemotherapy I received) in the "REG-ARTE" Contest, with the collaboration and within the Malaga Film Festival -MAF-Málaga
Two years later, Saatchi Gallery selected me as a featured artist in the "Saatchi Take Over" competition, London, UK in 2020. In 2021, I became part of the art gallery "Maison Contemporain Gallery" in Paris with my works of "War Diary" art. "In 2022 I was part of the Perdomo Gallery in Miami with my works "La Triada Combustible." I was part of the group exhibition CON Spring Edition'23 at the Circle of None art gallery, London. And that same year I was selected by Gemma Peppe to be part of the Art on a Postcard Summer Auction 2023 group exhibition, London.
Exhibition in which I felt honored to participate, due to its vital importance and the great help to the community that is dealing with Hepatitis C.
Currently, after health problems that I have managed to overcome.
I have returned to resume my artistic career.