Original artwork description:

It was May 8th 2022, my first day visiting the islands in Northern Bangladesh. We departed early from Balishi village travelling up the Brahmaputra river to the island of Aorai Bari. The Brahmaputra river was vast with hundreds of small islands scattered along the river. The beauty was breathtaking yet also a mask as this river was the source of so much fear of the residents of these tiny islands or chars as they are called. Climate change has seen water levels rise and the flooding was now more and more frequent to such an extent that many people had been forced to evacuate the homes several times in the last year alone.
I was introduced to Rahima Begum a resident of the village who was a community medic aid. She provided vital health care to this extremely remote island. I was struck by her pride in her role and she told me that she was responsible for looking after 122 families which amounted to 486 people. She was always busy but she had a real passion in wanting to help her community and it was this passion that I wanted to show in my portrait of Rahima. Rahima was inspirational and a person that I would never forget.

Materials used:

oil paint

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