A year in reflection
The psychological impact of news and its importance of matters lost in the media turmoil.
“A Year in Reflection” is an ongoing series that merges art, design, and activism to surface overlooked news and its mental-health impact. Using typographic and painterly posters, it reframes media overwhelm as fuel for empathy and civic responsibility—especially shaped by my Middle Eastern perspective. The work appears as prints, an exhibition, a booklet, and a digital release, turning relentless headlines into socially conscious storytelling and constructive action.
A Piece of my son Jan 12 - 2022
There are now almost 100,000 people missing in Mexico, according to figures released by the National Search Commission.
The majority have disappeared amid the drug war violence of the past decade and a half, with most being killed by drug cartels and dumped in unmarked graves. Family members across the country have taken on the task of searching for their missing loved ones themselves and risking their own lives.
Relatives of missing persons reported "finding a mass grave in the Mexican desert, with the charred skeletal remains of up to 50 people. The clandestine gravesite was discovered in Santa Ana, Sonora, by the group Colectivo Madres Buscadoras (Mothers' Search Collective).
My observation: What is the value of being human?
The Last Cocktail Feb5 - 2022
Ukrainian Brewery Stops Production to Make Molotov Cocktails, Asks Brewers Worldwide to Join Eforts by Brewing Their Beer. Russian military forces began a large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Three days after that, Pravda, a Ukrainian brewery in Lviv, Ukraine, stopped making beer and started brewing Molotov cocktails.
Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv region made Molotov cocktails as they prepared to defend their homes from invading Russian forces. People "filled bottles with polystyrene plastic and said they were ready to "fight for their country and help the Ukrainian military. The Russian army is not actually "fighting the Ukrainian army only. It’s "fighting every Ukrainian; it’s "fighting every old woman in a village, every IT person, every brewer, every baker, every engineer, and everyone is doing something he or she can do to win this war, they said.
My observation: How people can unite to "fight back when defending themselves.
The Damsel in Distress March 27 - 2022
Hollywood movie star Will Smith stormed the stage at the Oscars and slapped comedian Chris Rock over a bad joke about his wife's hair. They sent the message that women are incapable of handling themselves publicly and hence need a man to run to their defense when their feelings get hurt.
That's the unintended consequence of Will Smith running to his wife's defense. He may have meant well and responded out of love to defend his wife's honor. But at what cost to his career and women striving for equality?
My observation: Is women a man's honor? How do men feel they are allowed to use violence?
Diving into the Tarmac February 15 - 2022
In a viral video, hundreds of birds mysteriously crash to the ground. CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO: A video is gaining attention online showing what appears to be a flock of birds suddenly dropping to the ground dead. Local police reported roughly 100 yellow-headed blackbirds died. The birds migrate from Northern Canada to Mexico every winter.
The Guardian reported that an ecologist said the incident was likely caused by a predator and the birds’ instinctive defensive response, known as a murmuration. Authorities in Mexico have not yet confirmed what caused the birds’ sudden demise, but some speculate toxic fumes or a predator could be behind the incident.
My observation: Is instinct wrong?
Group Exhibitions:
ART Street Illustration Contest 2022
Posterterritory 2022
IMAGINE PEACE | Rotary International Poster Design Exhibition 2022
Poster for Tomorrow 2022:
Stand With Ukrain
Do The Right Thing
We Stand With Iranians
UCLA, Missouri State University, Suffolk University
Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Tbilisi Georgia
Hey Hey Rise Up April 8th - 2022
Pink Floyd released their first new song in 28 years to support Ukraine. They released the single 'Hey Hey Rise' after Gilmour was inspired by a performance by Ukrainian singer Andriy Khlyvnyuk that he saw on Instagram. It was created to raise funds for the United Nations’ Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.
The idea came from guitarist and singer David Gilmour, 76, who has a Ukrainian daughter-in-law and half-Ukrainian grandchildren. Ukrainian musician Andriy Khlyvnyuk inspired him from the band BoomBox, whom he performed with at a London Bene"t concert in 2015. David saw an Instagram video of Andriy in military gear singing the protest song “Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow,” a capella in Kyiv.
My observation: How people can unite to "ght back when it comes to defending themselves.
Tonga January 18 - 2022
When an underwater volcano in the Pacific island nation of Tonga erupted violently in mid-January, it spawned a tsunami that devastated many of its islands and struck far-off shores across the ocean.
But the vast volcanic explosion also generated something scientists hadn’t seen in more than half a century: a planetary-scale pressure wave, or shockwave, in the atmosphere. The wave circled Earth for days.
Dramatic images from space captured the eruption in real-time, as a massive plume of ash, gas, and steam was spewed up to 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) into the atmosphere, and tsunami waves were sent crashing across the Pacific.
In 2014, the underwater Hunga Tonga volcano eruption in December created a new island in the South Pacific.
My observation: As it did not exist, it made and destroyed.
Freudian Slip Reveal May 19 - 2022
Former President George W. Bush was criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin when his old nemesis, the verbal slip, struck again. Bush eventually condemned Putin's invasion of Ukraine, but not before he condemned "a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq."
Bush was drawing a parallel between how countries conducted elections and their stance toward other nations when his tongue went rogue.
"The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq—I mean, of Ukraine," Bush said.
My observation: Was it a confession of crime? The truth came out.
