A New Star in

Gaza

2024

“A New Star in Gaza” is an illustrated concertina which uses strong colours and inks to portray the intensity of the theme: Palestinian grief.

The imagery writes the narrative of a mother grieving the loss of her child due to the ongoing genocide in Palestine in current events. This piece was entered into The Batsford Prize under the theme Gravity. A New Star in Gaza represents the metaphorical gravitational pull between a mother’s grief and her lost child. The imagery of stars also relates to the gravitational force of stars that eventually implode, which relates to the weight of Palestinian grief.

Axel believes in speaking up about humanitarian issues as an illustrator, where images have a greater impact on a deeper understanding of shared empathy. He created this to spread awareness of the Palestinian genocide by relating mothers around the world, of shared grief.