Ceasefire: A painted response to genocide in Gaza

Aim

To create 'Ceasefire' - a large-scale reinterpretation of Picasso's 'Guernica', painted in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

I'm Ella Starling, a figurative painter, mother and activist from Pembrokeshire, Wales. 

Over the last few years I have witnessed the devastation of lives while sitting in my kitchen, with my children playing around me. What began decades ago as occupation and dispossession has, since October 2023, accelerated into genocide watched live by the whole world.

The question of 'What can I do?' has plagued my brain. Feeling sickened by the fact that one person's life-shattering events are another person's scroll fodder. Gradually becoming numb to the horror through the daily doses of exposure.

In Summer 2025 I raised over £1,500 for All Our Relations, a grassroots organisation supporting families in Gaza. The need for direct aid continues alongside this project and I am actively exploring ways to direct a portion of any funds raised beyond project costs to the organisation.

'Ceasefire' comes from being haunted by the images, footage, headlines and numbers all disappearing into the scroll, disappearing into yesterday's headlines. I wanted to create a lasting record, to honour the lives and the gravity of what we've been witnessing.

My last project was funded by Arts Council Wales and worked collaboratively with mothers from across Pembrokeshire to show the less visible sides of motherhood. This project culminated in two solo exhibitions in Spring 2026. 

Now my attention has turned to 'Ceasefire' which began with a study trip to Madrid, supported by a bursary from a-n The Artists Information Company, in order to study Picasso's 'Guernica'.

'Ceasefire' will be the largest and most ambitious painting I have ever made. A large-scale oil painting, filling my studio wall, reinterpreting Picasso's 'Guernica', painted in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

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Timeline:

May 2026 - Study trip to Madrid

June 2026 - Research and experimentation

July 2026 - Spring 2027 - Nine months of making, documenting and sharing the process publicly

Spring 2027 - Completion and public exhibition

As the project develops and I can show proof of concept, I will be actively seeking public art and exhibiting opportunities to get 'Ceasefire' seen as widely as possible.

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How the money will be used:

Canvas and materials: £1,110

Paints, mediums etc: £1,175

Tools & equipment: £325

Studio rent for 9 months: £2,160

Contingency: £730

Total: £5,500

Any money raised beyond these initial costs will contribute towards my time in order to make this project sustainable for my family. 

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Your support makes 'Ceasefire' possible. Making you part of recording and responding to the genocide in another way, by creating a lasting visual record of this dark moment in human history. We will not allow lives to be forgotten, will not stay silent or look away.

Please donate what you can, every amount matters and goes towards making this work possible.

If you can't give, please share this page. If you have a moment to add a personal note when you share it, that personal endorsement can make an enormous difference. A few words from you about why this project matters could be what moves someone else to back it.

Thank you for not looking away and thank you for your support.

Filming by Luke Neuman, @lenspluslight

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made