Graffiti Wall Art

My piece has some pretty obvious statements within it. We use so many euphemisms when we talk about difficult things in regards to war. One of these is causalities of war, meaning people who lost their lives in a war zone. I wanted to show what that means in the lives of individuals. I made the words of casualties of war white and the background black because the euphemism of casualties of war makes a complex issue look so black and white. I made the relationships names of the people in regards to their relation to other people in their community in red because it shows that the issue is more than black and white and it represents the pain these families endure with their loss. The members of the community I used was children, toddlers, women, etc.. I had them start from letters from the euphemism casualties of war because they make up what that euphemism really means. Red, black and white are typically used in resistance art as well. I think that is usually because black is usually the color you think of when you think of death and red is the color of blood both of which are very much involved wherever there is conflict. I wanted to show that there is a lot more than just black and white to any war conflict and the effects reach everyone involved in a personal way. All of the books we read dealt with involved how a conflict personal effects an individual and all those around them-- with Kampung Boy it was how industry effects families, with Sold it was how the sex slave trade effects an individual, with Crossing the Wire it was how the US immigration policy effects a family and with A Long Way Gone it was how war effects an individual. All these conflicts effect each individual and each family differently, that is why I wanted my piece to reflect the individual impact conflict has on people.