"They're Mine to Keep" (2011-2012)

There is a stigma which is disappearing, but is still prevalent with the military and with society at large. The idea that soldiers are an embodiment of strength and courage, and that they are anything but weak. If a soldier should happen to need help for any reason, they will show said vulnerability, and that is simply unacceptable. It is however, a tremendous act of courage to show that you are weak and can be vulnerable. It acknowledges that weakness, and allows you to heal from that. I witnessed a Gulf War Veteran, Teddy, show said moment of courage and weakness in a round-table discussion for a group of actors with the Two Pence Shakespeare Theater reinterpreting "Romeo & Juliet" as a post World War I story where all the younger male cast were war veterans. Teddy started to break his composure a bit and told of all the stories, all the loss were "Mine to keep!". His gesture resonated with me, knowing there is the statistical certainty that thousands of soldiers feel the same way and carry similar burdens. In response, I cast a series of arms imitating the same gesture Teddy had made, and represented those memories, and those who were lost as these watery fading silhouettes. This was an installation in the National Veteran Art Museum as part of a show "Radical Vulnerability" which was on display from November 2011 through September 2012.

The Penance Cycle: I'm a Terrorist (2011-2012)

Before I deployed to Iraq, I had a 90 hour Arabic immersion course which I picked up the alphabet and some conversational Arabic in which I could introduce myself, state who and what I am, and that was about it. In trying to learn more of such a complex language, and working with a Psychological Operations Unit, I saw some of the products they were making. One poster caught my attention because of a word which had what amounts to a series of "Y's" in the end of the word punctuated by an "N". The word was "Terrorists" or الإرهابيين. Using what little functional conjugation I knew, I twisted the sentence to a declarative "I'm a terrorist" or "أنا إرهابي"  This resulted in my wanting to explore how my relationship as a participant in Operation Iraqi Freedom, a war started on false pretenses measured with my actions for and against the Iraqi people, and the United States Army. Inspired by the work of other calligraphers such as Hassan Massoudy, Khaled Al Saai, and Ayad Al Kadhi I clumsily began my own explorations the way a student repeats a sentence over and over after committing some offending action and getting caught.