Graffiti Wall

War and Peace Graffiti Wall Project - Artist Statement

My “graffiti wall” has two parts; the first part depicts a young boy playing in his yard with toy soldiers. The boy is smiling, sitting under the shade of the tree, and is in view of his home. Many of us can relate to this boy. We played outside as children, our parents always reminding us  to stay close so that they could keep an eye on us. He has no cares in the world and is in a peaceful place. He is in the now; not thinking about the past or the future, but enjoying himself as he plays by himself. 

The next part depicts a young, faceless soldier, covered in blood and with a gun in his hand. He is shooting and killing people, but the only thing we see of his victims is their bloodshed. The young soldier is faceless because, to the army that he is in, he is just another killing machine. He is not a person with feelings and humanity - he is just another pawn who can pull a trigger. His victims are not seen because, to him and to the army, they are unseen and unnamed. They are not human beings to the army, rather they are just bodies who are in the way. Behind the soldier there are buildings and a tanker. The buildings are vacant as one has been blown up. The windows are shattered and the buildings are probably being used as hideouts for the enemy. The tanker is seen in the background with its artillery aimed and ready. 

The first picture has only a small amount of green, the toy soldiers, and the rest is shades of grey. The next picture is also mostly shades of grey, but with a considerable amount of red depicting the bloodshed of the many victims. This is meant to be a stark contrast showing what the boy is seeing, feeling, and doing. In the first picture he is outside of his family home, but in the second picture his family is nowhere to be seen. What happened to them? Does he still think about them and where they are now? Does he care? Since he is obviously not with his family, how far away is he? Is he on the other side of town? Other side of the country? How far away is he, both physically and mentally? If he returned home, how would that affect him?

When people look at these drawings I want them to consider what happened to this boy from the time he was an innocent child playing with toy soldiers to when he was turned into a faceless killing machine who had the blood of many on his hands. No family encourages young boys to become killers, but we do allow them to play with toy soldiers and enact made up battle scenes. We value our children and, especially with boys, teach them to grow up and be tough and strong and fearless. We don’t teach them to be brutal and unsympathetic, though. What happened to this boy that made him like that? What did he tell himself to justify murder? How many emotions did he have to put away in order for him to be able to kill countless people? How is his life different now than it was when he was a kid? Will he ever stop? Will he ever change?

These pictures tell a story. A story of a young innocent boy who ends up as a brutal killer in an army. But I hope these pictures also make people think. What happened from the time he was a small boy playing with toy soldiers outside of his house, to when he was in the field, as a soldier, killing people?