war painting copper wire and 90 stamped, stainless steel dogtags approx. 48x50
I've been experimenting with text lately in my work. I feel that in some cases, certain mediums can get you closer to what you want to say than others. So I guess this piece is pointing out that painting in oil (as I have been doing for a few years now) is not an ideal medium for what I'm trying to do in terms of making work about my experiences overseas. But I'll qualify this by saying that I feel limited in oil painting and painting in general because of what I'm trying to say with it. Others may find painting to be the perfect medium for saying what they want to say. And indeed it's an amazing medium with many possibilities However, when it comes to how and what I wish to communicate, painting just isn't doing it. And so, for the time being, I've moved on to more sculptural/installation projects.
I ordered a metal stamp kit and about 100 of the tags off Amazon. The text I used comes from the color names that oil paint manufacturers use. Names like "burnt umber" and "permanent green light" conjure up so many images from my time in the military. I get flashes of charred remains or the dancing shades of green of NVGs. The use of wire is a nod to IEDs and the way in which our "enemies" communicated with us. And of course the dogtags have their own history and significance. Light, shadow, and subtle movement also plays a part in this piece.
Until January 25th or so, this piece a few others of mine as well as some of my very talented friends' work will be up at Plant Zero on the southside. If you haven't seen it, you should check it out. The show is called "Good and Good for You". It's free and M-F it's open from 9am to 5pm.
This semester I was awarded a VCUArts research grant in order to expand this project. The final result should be about 5,000 dogtags or so. However, the text will most likely be from conversations I have with my army buddies and other veterans. My goal is to have the project completed and the venue where it will hang worked out by the end of next semester.