GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — An Armenian-born painter is hoping to give the West Michigan community a more personal understanding of war with his ArtPrize entry, which portrays six children who were killed in wars.

“It’s really personal to me,” Mher Khachatryan, who is now based in New Jersey, told News 8.

During his childhood, he explained, there was a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“At that time, I think I was like 7, 8. Going to school, we had to really light up a candle. There was no lights, no hot water. So it was really tough time,” he said. “Because of the war, there was so much poverty. And I’m sure it’s the same thing in Azerbaijan, too; they’re just like us. So there was a lot of losses, kids. I remember a lot of bad stories.”

In 2020, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan again.

“I saw all these things happening again and again,” Khachatryan said. “It just brought all these memories.”

As he heard news of wars across the globe, Khachatryan — also known as The Smoke Artist — said he was struck by inspiration, which he described as “when an idea takes over.”

“I started looking for pictures of the kids who were impacted by (war). And there are a lot,” he told News 8.

After months of work, he produced “I Was Your Child,” which is now being displayed at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum for ArtPrize.

“The painting I created, it’s about six kids who actually died during these wars,” Khachatryan said. “I just wanted to see how I can bring these kids into light and show people how beautiful they are. And unfortunately they’re not with us, but I wanted to talk about their stories. … I wanted to make them immortal in this picture.”

“I Was Your Child” depicts a Ukrainian child and a Russian child, a Palestinian child and an Israeli child and an Azerbaijani child and an Armenian child.

“If you look at the painting, (the) Ukrainian and Russian girls, they’re connected as one. If somebody looks at them, you won’t even know who’s who,” the artist explained. “And that’s how they are. The kids, it doesn’t matter what country you’re from or what language you speak. Kids are very innocent.”

Children, he said, are children.

“It hurts for me the same to see any of the kids struggle. It doesn’t matter where they’re from,” Khachatryan said. “They’re our kids.”

He said for people who haven’t experienced war firsthand, it can feel distant.

“War is not a cool thing. When it doesn’t come to your house, when it doesn’t come on your land, sometimes it’s a war from your couch. And you’re like, ‘OK, well, is this like a movie?'” Khachatryan said. “…When it’s next door or knocking on your door, it’s a totally different understanding of war than when you see it from the news and you see it on a TV or on your iPad.”

He hopes his painting can help narrow the gap and offer people “a little bit more understanding and feeling.”

“I hope that this will play even a very, very, very tiny role of bringing peace to all of us, to our children,” he said.

Khachatryan said pictures do not do “I Was Your Child” justice. He asked the West Michigan community to see the painting, learn about it and spread the message of peace.

“Because that is the ultimate goal,” he said. “If there’s no peace, there’s nothing.”