The exhibit held its opening reception Thursday, November 1 in the Stamp Gallery. Selections from the Combat Paper Project was curated by Jason Hughs and showcases art by military veterans. What makes the artworks so unique however is the material by which they were made from: old uniforms.
The project allows veterans to transform their uniforms into paper pulp. Veterans then collaborate with artists to create original works of art filled with their emotions, experiences, and stories.
With Veteran’s Week scheduled for the following week it seemed only fitting for the Stamp Gallery to house such a collection. Note, these artworks are not done by professionals.
“The people who have created these works are not trained artists. These are veterans and their relatives. […]” Junior, IVSP student Yohana Lebasi said. “They don’t have to be great artists, all these pieces look amazing to not be trained artists and that’s what we have to realize, there’s no qualifications to be an artist.”
Combat Papers is evidence of this. Setting up workshops countrywide, the organization helps veterans pulverize their uniforms, creating them into pulp, ready to be drawn on.
“But, these papers as you know are weighted with all the connotations of war and what they left behind.” Stamp Gallery worker, Gabrielle Dunkley said, “And since it’s their uniforms that they’re technically painting on it’s very intense. […] I can only imagine […] what it feels like to carry a piece of this with you every day.”
But of course empathy and understanding doesn’t come naturally, especially with a painting.
“My first impression was puzzlement,” visitor Peter Coughlin said.
But with the help of Lebasi, Coughlin learned about the project’s background and quickly unraveled a new darker undertone to the visuals.
“I can see that most of these images are dark unpleasant images. And it gives me the impression that people have associated combat as a source of unpleasant memories for them, since they express their experience with combat with dark and stark imagery.”
Visiting researcher, Celso Riberto, agreed. Having just stopped by randomly, Riberto was surprised by the intensity of the pieces.
“Nothing I have ever seen before relates to war but I think it is more important for the people who did the art and it impresses mainly those on the battlefield.”
While visitors like Riberto and Coughlin walk through and enjoy the exhibit for what it’s worth, those who collaborated with the project hold a deeper appreciation for the arts and their artists.
“I sat in front of MLK Universe for a good 30 minutes because I’m really exploring the subtext and the connotations and what it does and how it moves me.” Stamp Gallery worker Gabrielle Dunkley said, “It’s an incredible opportunity to just be around these great pieces.”
It is important to note that these artworks are created by veterans who have experienced much death and sorrow while serving. According to exhibit curator, Tara Tappert, only one percent of the American population serves in the military, but those who do are returning to the states with post-traumatic stress disorder and are committing suicide at an alarming rate.
Therefore, projects like Combat Paper serve to as a way for these veterans to release their emotions.
“Art making has been one of the many alternative therapies that is helping our veterans reintegrate and become whole again,” said Tappert.
She adds that art making has the power to heal and that it helps veterans make sense of what they experienced at war. Since working with the veterans, Tappert found that during the process of transforming uniform into paper, veterans were often more willing to share their wartime experiences.
Lebasi agrees, that through art, veterans, and humans in general, find it easier to express what they cannot out loud.
“Sometimes there aren’t words that can capture what I’m thinking, like I don’t know how to say what I feel but I can express it in some other way […] It’s very very hard speaking about hard times and death and gruesome things and all the things that go on.”
The exhibit will stay in the gallery until December 15. Until then, stop by during a break and take a few seconds to just immerse in the surrounding artwork, to appreciate and enjoy the eeriness, the emotions, the stories.