Child Soldier Series
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 First painting in the child soldier series. This boy was one of two brothers in a guerrilla group in Burma.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 Original photo is of a boy in Kosovo.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 Another child soldier in the series of many worldwide.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 Child soldier on the border of El Salvador.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2006
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2006 Original photo of a boy in South America.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 A Nazi youth. Although this child may have never seen the battlefield yet, the fact that he is in this uniform means that his parents had to sign waiver forms with the SS that said he is now the property of the state and he might be used for battle at any moment. At the end of the war, Hitler actually did tap into the Nazi youth for battle support when soldiers became thin.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006 This piece is from a recent photo of two Israeli girls signing a bomb to hit Lebanon during the recent crisis. Although they are not holding guns and will not personally shoot and kill individuals, they are subconsciously enjoying the idea of killing.
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2007 Original photo is of a toddler holding onto a gun in a parade in Iraq.
10"x10" oil paint on canvas 2007 This child soldier is from Burma, one of two brothers.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2007
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2006
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2007 When I saw the original photo, the child's eyes looked so dead, you can see a part of him has died through his experiences.
10"x10" Oil paint on canvas 2007 A child around 15 years old in the middle of a Liberian street, supporter of the president, Charles Taylor. As in many other African countries, the people are stuck between a rock and a hard place, the governments are fighting the people and rebels, and the guerrilla groups are fighting everyone for power and control of land.
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2007 The image of this boy haunted me when I first saw it and found out he was 13 years old, deep in the trenches of Myanmar. I wanted to reflect his fear and exhaustion through the colors I used, especially the purple. Original photo courtesy Dean Chapman/Panos.co.uk
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2007 An Albanian child soldier from the mid '90s. The age was not given, but I presume he is between 14 and 16 years old. The anger and/or intimidating look upon his face made me choose to paint him in those fiery colors. original photo courtesy:Zed Nelson/Panos.co.uk
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2007 This is a Chechen child soldier. The age was not given but I presume he was between the ages of 15 and 17 in 1991. original photo courtesy:Heidi Bradner/Panos.co.uk
30"x30" Oil paint on canvas 2007 This child soldier is the first and only real girl child soldier I have come across so far! This is a thirteen year old girl with the FMLN guerrilla group in El Salvador during their civil war in the late 1970's. It is hard to tell she is feminine, so I specifically enhanced the pink in this portrait.
30"x30" acrylic and oil on canvas. 2008 First painting experimenting with the airbrush. The painting is of a child soldier from Congo. original photo from Sven Torfinn/panos.co.uk
appr. 12"x10"x10" Mixed Media 2007 Hungarian military helmet filled with candy bullets that were then covered with wax. The wax was only for museum sanitation purposes. This piece represents the enticement of war directed towards children... whether it be child soldiers or children playing war games in general.
Appr. 10"x10"x24" Mixed media, 2007 A unit of the memorial to all child soldiers who have passed away in the many conflicts adults pull them into as well as generally to the many lost souls and childhoods never to be experienced by surviving children. I modeled each of these after the regular soldier memorial, but made this out of toy guns and helmuts that I painted to match my paintings and matched them with different childrens shoes found at thrift stores. concept driven.
Appr. 10"x10"x24" Mixed media, 2007 A unit of the memorial to all child soldiers who have passed away in the many conflicts adults pull them into as well as generally to the many lost souls and childhoods never to be experienced by surviving children. I modeled each of these after the regular soldier memorial, but made this out of toy guns and helmuts that I painted to match my paintings and matched them with different childrens shoes found at thrift stores. concept driven.