Just inside the leafy cover of the De Schorre Park forest, seven friendly giants stand constant guard, greeting visitors and keeping watch over the lush, green landscape. These enormous figures range from 23 to 59 feet long, but what makes them truly unique is that they are crafted entirely from discarded, recycled wood.
In the great expanse of the South Pacific, northeast of Papua New Guinea and southwest of Hawaii, lies Pingelap Atoll, a collection of three small islands in Micronesia. Only the largest of these islands, which is less than 2.5 miles wide at its widest point, is inhabited. Despite the small size of their home, the 250 or so residents of Pingelap have attracted a fair bit of attention from researchers, scientists and now, artists.
During the last few years Syrian artist Abdalla Al Omari has been creating striking oil paintings that depict the world’s most controversial and influential leaders as displaced and disenfranchised civilians to raise awareness for people fleeing war-torn countries.
