Embrace the Suck. A phrase that is often enthusiastically demanded from superior to the subordinate is an important and widely experienced military colloquialism. It means there is an undeniable fact that life is about to become difficult, and the only option is to welcome the hardship, move forward, and accomplish the mission.
I reimagine childhood toys and playing at war, explore memory through materiality, and subvert the monumental—the typical heroic exploits restructured into moments between actions, the hurry up and wait, the busy work, the catharsis self-destructive or unprofessional behavior. In short, I disrupt the traditional media fueled notions of military might.
The figures are the anti-monument to the conventional perception of military life. My intention is not to critique the individual soldier but to draw awareness of unnecessary sacrifice and challenge the viewer’s understanding of war, its place in the home as an outlet for entertainment, and its psychological impact the active participants.
