One Year in Iraq
One Year in Iraq: United States Soldiers Killed in Hostilities is about paying homage to those who have given their life for the country, at the same time it is a harsh critique on the reasons for engaging in a violent war. It is meant to question the motives and also the appropriateness of war as a method for solving conflict. The portraits of the soldiers are all done with used motor oil and other various oils that pertain to the automobile, such as brake fluid and transmission fluid. The oil was allowed to roam freely across the landscapes of the soldier’s faces, often times illustrating a process of decay. The pieces are meant to be displayed as a whole, or in parts, "details" if you will, in which soldiers are grouped by the date in which they perished.