A young Wellington artist has been commissioned by TIME Magazine to illustrate its cover with an image dedicated to the Christchurch mosque shooting victims.
Time said in an article yesterday that it reached out to Ruby Jones, a 25-year-old artist from Wellington, to capture "the feeling from inside her country in the days following the terrorist attack on a mosque in Christchurch".
"This cover image symbolises the strength that I am seeing and feeling right now in the world. And how tragedies like the terrorist attack in Christchurch do nothing but bring us closer together as a society," Jones told Time.
"I was thinking how important a time it is, now more than ever, to be standing together in this world.
"We can acknowledge that we are all different, every single one of us—we come from different countries, different cultures, different religions, different upbringings, but at the end of the day none of us know what we are doing on this planet," she said.
Following the attack, Jones also created another image that went viral and was shared across social media.
The image depicts two women hugging, one wearing a hijab, with the words 'This is your home and you should have been safe here' written underneath.
Jones told Time the response was "pretty overwhelming".
"I've received thousands of heartfelt messages from all over the world, from Pakistan to Norway; from Bangladesh to Paris.
"A lot of people in New Zealand have thanked me for putting their grief into an image when they couldn't find the words themselves.
"And from the Muslim community worldwide, they have told me how much it means to them to see themselves in the image and to be represented."
Jones took to social media to announce the cover image to be displayed on the April 1 edition.
"A week ago today a terrorist came and turned our beautiful country upside down, taking 50 lives in the process. I would like to dedicate this cover to those 50 people, who are represented in each of the stars," she wrote.
"Thank you to the Muslim community in New Zealand and all around the world, who have shown nothing but strength, compassion and kindness, despite having had the absolute opposite shown to you last Friday.
"Thank you to our beloved Jacinda Ardern for guiding us through this extremely painful time in New Zealand's history.
"Thank you to all of the love and support from around the world, especially Australia - I am so sorry you had to get caught up in this tragedy too.
"Thank you to the team at Time for trusting me with this and for continuing to tell important stories the world needs to hear."