Sakineh II is an abstraction of my painting Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. I painted this while the prior painting was drying. I was completely devastated reading in the New York Times that an Iranian court had sentenced Sakineh to death by stoning. I could not fathom that at this time in history a woman could be sentenced to die in such a cruel, demeaning and painful manner. I had seen the movie, “The Stoning of Soraya M.” The circumstances, lies and deceit that led to Soraya’s death (based on a true story) seemed to loosely parallel Sakineh’s story. I had to paint my anguish. Attached to the back of this painting is a copy of the Times article that prompted this work.
