Always III

This canvas was created in 2023 and is a detail of a much larger 2020 mural that the artist completed on a freestanding wall on the island of Lesbos in Greece. The location of the wall was close to the site of the infamous refugee camp known as Moria. At its peak, Moria was dangerously overpopulated. In September of 2020, a massive fire broke out and destroyed much of the camp, displacing its tens of thousands of inhabitants from their temporary shelter.


The artist visited the camp following the fire and met with refugees who had lost so much, but maintained a strong sense of hope for the future. Near the burned Moria camp, eL Seed created a mural which is still in situ, depicting in three languages (English, Arabic, and Greek) the words of Greek poet Odysseus Elytis (1911–1996), "Always, always, pass through fire to reach the shining," a testimony to the tragedy, resilience, and strength of the refugees of the camp. This aptly chosen line is taken from Elytis' epic poem The Axion Esti (1959) from a section that deals directly with man's exploration of human perseverence and determination.


eL Seed is part of the continuum of artists working with the Arabic script in innovative ways. The undulating, overlapping form of the black strokes of calligraphy in Always III transforms word into pattern, and the highly graphic nature and bold color of this work offers a fresh approach to the age-old tradition of Arabic writing, while the subject is distinctly situated in the 21st century global migrant crisis.