Fallen Soldiers Exhibition Commemorates Veterans

by VITA PLUME

Fallen Soldiers (Canada & USA)

Fallen Soldiers commemorates the thousands of soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and all soldiers who have found and died in service to their country. The 300 ghostly portraits remind us that war is not only measured by the words democracy and freedom but also by all the lives that were and could have been… thus is the true cost of war.

This work in progress represents the eyes of approximately two percent of 6,075 U.S. casualties who have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom + Operation Enduring Freedom / Afghanistan and approximately 90% of the Canadian casualties in Afghanistan since 2002.

Each panel shows the eyes of the solider and their initials. A key to the exhibition provides the full name, rank, place of birth, and date of death.

This work is dedicated to the memory of Captain Jefferson Francis who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007 by an improvised explosive device. He was a young man of 36, with a six month old baby, who dropped out of the Ph.D. program to become an unlikely soldier.

This piece is woven in memory of all soldiers who have given their lives fighting wars and to their families and friends for the tears they have shed.

Fallen Soldiers is an exhibit by Associate Professor of Art + Design Vita Plume and will be on exhibit November 7 – 19, 2011 with an opening reception on Thursday, November 10, 2011 beginning at 5 p.m. in Brooks Hall Gallery.

This exhibition is supported by: NC Arts Council, Cotton Inc., and the Department of Art + Design at NC State University.