"This piece was my way of expressing the empathy and pain I feel for those who have been murdered in Palestine. I am angry, sad, and will fight until the end for these people. I used teddy bears as a representation of the children for the vivid imagery of a stuffed animal that no longer has a child but to also nod to the fact that I am a citizen of a country who is contributing to this genocide. Teddy Roosevelt is the reason we have the teddy bear and he was a huge colonizer but also a murderer/hunter. I started this painting on Dia de los Muertos and so I was inspired to create an alter/memorial. In Islam burial is a very important practice and people are dying so rapidly there are no goodbyes there is no proper ceremony. So I send my empathy in the form of a memorial."  - Laurel Petri