A reflection on displacement and death marches, this series uses black ink on fragile white paper to viscerally portray forced migration. From the Holocaust to the Bataan Death March, military forces throughout history have subjected prisoners of war, deportees, and captives to brutal relocations, often on foot. Hundreds of thousands have died during these atrocities from starvation, injury, sexual violence, and abuse, while those unable to continue were often left to die. Various accounts of these horrors persist despite the intention of erasure. This series aims to be part of that survival record.

Created collaboratively with the artist’s cousin, the work was painted using their feet, a physical process that evokes vulnerability and a loss of control. As third-generation Armenian Americans whose family histories are shaped by genocide, they use brazen imagery to confront viewers with the toll of displacement and the atrocities of coerced relocation.