Title: Tears of the Sun

Series: Conflict (2019)

Status: Held in Private Collection

Medium: Acrylic and Mixed Media on Bespoke Canvas

Size: Dimensions Unrecorded | Custom Studio Format

Tears of the Sun serves as a primary investigation into the systemic exploitation of child soldiers, specifically reflecting on those impacted by the Lord’s Resistance Army. The work acts as a visual meditation on the internal friction experienced by youth forced into cycles of ritualized violence.

The composition is defined by three aggressive red finger marks, war paint dragged across the subject’s face, symbolizing a violent interruption of autonomy. While the paint marks the subject for conflict, the tears represent a spiritual radiance that persists despite forced desensitization. This work established the conceptual foundation for the "dry cry" a physiological boundary where the capacity for outward mourning is exhausted by the necessity of survival.

-Daniel Montoute