"Tsunami", 36 x 48", oil on canvas, 2005.
On December 26th, 2004, a Tsunami occured in the Indian Ocean causing death, devastation and displacement in 15 neighbouring countries. It is estimated that over 230,000 people were killed and close to 1.7 million people displaced.
A Tsunami will often strike without warning. This painting attempts to capture a moment in which this occured. Two young boys of Sri Lankan descent play happily on their uncle's fishing boat on a beautiful sun drenched day. They, like everyone else in their village, have shared a lifelong and trusting relationship with the sea. It has provided them with sustenance, employment and recreation, as it has for thousands of years. Until today.
The painting is a depiction of two happy boys enjoying , what is to become, the very last moments of their lives. They are completely unaware of the utter devastation that is fast approaching. They represent the fate that befell so many unsuspecting souls on that terrible day in 2004.
This painting was commissioned from me by a private art collector who wanted some way to commemorate this disturbing and historic event.