Veronika Wendebourg/ Silenced

Veronika Wendebourg was born on September 18, 1992, in Munich. Studying art education at Ludwig Maximilian University; expected to graduate in 2026 Lives and works in Munich, Germany

The inspiration for this painting came from an article I read. It was about the grief of mothers—both Israeli mothers and Palestinian mothers living in Gaza—who have to send their children off to war and often lose them. Added to this were the photos we saw and continue to see of children who have been killed, injured, or lost in the rubble. The grief that unites both sides—including the Russian and Ukrainian sides—moved me deeply. Even though I am not a mother, I cannot imagine a more existential grief than that of a mother who loses her young child. It is something no one would wish upon themselves or anyone else; it is a grief that everyone understands and no one questions. It is something universally human.