Description
48 x 48 x 3 inches
Acrylic and mixed media on deep-edge stretched canvas | Real bullet shells | Unframed | Finished edges | Ready to hang
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Child Soldier is part of the ongoing series The Gardens of Impunity — a body of work that confronts violence with beauty, truth, and resistance.
This piece centers on the silhouette of an armed child, inspired by the thousands of young lives conscripted into armed conflict around the world, particularly in the artist’s native Colombia. Painted in veiled layers of acrylic and collage, the child stands anonymous, weapon in hand, his future swallowed by a war he did not choose.
On the left edge, a vertical garden of stylized flowers made from real bullet shells emerges from a crimson background. In the artist’s work, flowers are always symbols of hope — a quiet refusal to let brutality erase the potential for rebirth.
Subtle textures and dripping whites suggest innocence blurred and washed away. Grenade forms and target marks haunt the background, while the names of countries that continue to use child soldiers are embedded throughout the layers, visible only to those who take the time to look.
This painting was featured in the advertising for the American Red Cross’ Clara Barton International Humanitarian Law Competition, underscoring its message as a powerful visual commentary on justice, memory, and the protection of vulnerable lives.
Mood: Confrontational, mournful, symbolic, resilient
Main Colors: Crimson red, ash gray, charcoal black, muted earth tones
Inspiration: A tribute to the children lost to war — not only in Colombia, but globally — and a visual plea for justice, memory, and change. This is not just a painting; it is a protest, a memorial, and a seed of hope.
