Shattered

My son painted this picture after he heard about Operation Extreme Love, Thailand. He wrote the following comment about it:

"This was the final piece for my final major project for the first year of my college course. 

I normally prefer not to tell people the story behind the art work. I like people to be able to view the art work and come up with their own interpretations. The portrait has a story of its own to tell. But I decided to share it this time. Please spend some time looking at the art work for a little bit before reading this though.

Before I started painting this art work, someone told me about the sex trafficking industry in Thailand. A lot of  young girls are forced into it and are completely unprotected. I thought about how they should be kept safe inside their parents, partners, friends, or families protection but are not. They are exposed, abused, damaged and hurt. While painting this painting I had this in the back of my mind.I wanted the portrait to be beautiful but at the same time to express the great sadness, loss, pain, and abandonment the girl is feeling. The tears are of great sorrow. 
The piece is called 'Shattered'."