Liberties

I was struck by fact that several veterans confided they enlisted because they wanted to liberate the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. What is the price of freedom? Is it a global, national, or individual debt? In the Liberty drawings I pair soldiers with flags and islamic motifs. In some, tonal fields of charcoal are combined with the preciousness of gold leaf. In others, the images are literally burned into the surface of delicate handmade paper. In places, the drawn marks char completely through the support, emphasizing the fragility of the unifying surface. Watercolor accents visually cool off this blistering effect. Throughout, the camouflage of some of the figures is transformed into Islamic patterns appropriated from art history.