Gaza artist mixes beauty with pain in her ballet paintings

'Men and women are both in chains under the occupation,' said Jebril about how her art reflects life in Gaza. One painting depicts a dancer with her feet chained in barbed wire. Another sees a woman wrapping her body around a grenade. Photo: Handout

Palestinian artist Abeer Jebril's dark-coloured paintings show ballerinas chained in barbed wire, dancing on rocks, or facing barricades to mirror what she calls the "ticking bomb" reality of women in Gaza.

She hopes her portraits will bring attention to the social and political problems women face in Gaza, home to two million people and devastated by wars and economic restrictions.