These are the words of a refugee from Kabul Afghanistan whose portrait is featured in Forced Migration: New Portraits of Refugees from Africa, Central Asia and Central America.
"They didn't like anyone having anything that could entertain them at their house, A TV, a radio, My sister had a party, so she invited some friends over, And we had the music up, we had Indian music on actually, it wasn't loud and somehow when they were passing by they heard the sounds. God knows, if they found the radio What would happen, so I wouldn't open the door We kept saying "There's girls in here" So they said "open the door and if we find it!" I don't remember what they said they would do... But if they found it, it wouldn't be good. We lived in a building and our balcony was connected to the neighbours, so we took the radio and gave it to the neighbours, actually we just threw it to their balcony, and when they came in, they couldn't find anything.”
Tompalski's family emigrated to Canada from Odessa Ukraine and Warsaw Poland to escape the national and social discrimination found in Eastern Europe in the late 1800's. Tompalski began her career as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, working with refugees, artists, couples and families. She became increasingly intrigued by the act of documenting psychology on canvas and video in a style she describes as psychological realism. Her brush strokes and bold colours evoke strong emotions that depict expressive faces tangled in a world of colourful turbulence. "The work is developed in an exploratory fashion," she says. "Paintings and drawings are sometimes torn-up and reassembled with a collage of mixed media elements in an effort to create a fresh view of the subject. Basically, I'm trying to make psychologically informed images that stimulate curiosity about the conflicting desires inside all of us."
Sherry Tompalski gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of Ottawa and the Ontario Arts Council.