Tribute to Guillermo Fariñas

Not much publicity has been given here in the US to the many brave men in Cuba who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the sake of freedom. All of them are deserving of honor and praise. The most recent of these is Guillermo Fariñas, a Cuban journalist who went on a hunger strike to protest the Cuban government's prohibition to internet access by the public.

I admire Mr. Fariñas for his bravery and conviction and patriotism. I am drawn to him by this sense of awe and reverence. I suppose I see more clearly in him that fragment of the divine present in all of us. I don't know anything about Mr. Fariñas, except what he now looks like and what he is doing. I am a visual artist, and I suppose this makes me, by nature and training, keen to visual details and characteristics. What I see in the available photos of Guillermo Fariñas is a large-framed man with the vestiges of athleticism. His body now shows the devastating effects of the hunger strike. He is obviously of African descent. But the external aspect of a man is merely a faint glimpse of what lies beneath the physical surface of his being. Mr. Fariñas' photos give me a clue to who he is. But outside of meeting him in person, I felt I could gain a better "look" at the intangible aspects of such a man only by attempting to draw his image.

The experience of such a task was at times overwhelming. I struggled to keep the pencil under control. I dared not press too hard on the surface of the paper. I allowed lines to flow more freely than usual. The stark shape of his head captured my intial attention. I noticed his pronounced brow ridge sheltering quietly determined eyes, his sharply-defined ears, the space under his broad nose, the lips relaxed but seemingly formed as if about to speak. I found it comforting, almost safe, to focus on the mechanics of the rendering.

I don't know what business I have writing about a drawing. All I know is that I felt compelled to draw and share it.