Hazara Mother

About this piece

“Hazara Mother” was created using tar — a material that itself symbolizes darkness, harshness, burning, and endurance. The painting depicts a Hazara mother carrying the lifeless body of her murdered child alone on her shoulders — a scene that has occurred not just once, but countless times throughout history. The tar-soaked tones and wound-like textures evoke violence, silence, and imposed suffering. Yet the mother’s unbroken posture stands as a symbol of resilience and courage, deeply rooted in pain. “Hazara Mother” is not merely a painting, but a visual outcry of mothers who — despite immense grief — have remained the pillars of survival and the continuation of life amid darkness and the shadows of history.