The One Hundred Hamsas Project

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During a painting class at Stony Brook University on the morning of September 11, 2001, my instructor, Mel Pekarsky, offered this sentiment: “Right now there’s a lot of ugliness happening in the world. Let’s stay and make something beautiful.” As I continued painting that morning while the world shifted around me, I found comfort, grounding, and a pathway for healing and reconnection in my art.

This year has again brought intense global change, and has also separated us from loved ones and from the places and experiences that bring us joy.

The One Hundred Hamsas Project is inspired by my rekindled desire to “make something beautiful” as a way of healing and reconnecting through artistic creation.

The hamsa image, also known as the Hand of God, the Hand of Fatima, the Hand of Mary, or the Hand of the Goddess, symbolizes protection, good health, good fortune, power and strength. In Hindu and Buddhist faiths, the upright hand gesture in the image is called the Abhayamudrā, which represents protection, peace, benevolence and the dispelling of fear. The eye in the image’s center serves as protection from the evil eye or other dangers. The hamsa is a uniting, multicultural, reassuring symbol used across various cultures and faiths, and dates back to ancient Mesopotamia and Carthage.

For this project, I will paint one hundred original hamsas. They will not be for sale. Instead each unique watercolor and gouache painting will be sent to family, friends, and neighbors as a way of preserving connections and offering a hand of love, support, and a bit of beauty during these uncertain times.

-Kristen