Project Description

18″ x 24″

Mixed media on panel

This piece is part of my “Message in a Bottle” series, inspired by a box of 100 letters I discovered that were written by my grandfather when he was a soldier in WW1. All the artwork in this series bring forth the feelings, passions and ideas he wrote about, or are derived from the materiality of the stationery, handwriting, ink, stains, etc.

“With the Colors 2” refers to how immigrants, like my grandfather, in spite of enduring their own national and social traumas, felt honored to be soldiers in the American army. Born in what is now Belarus, A. C. Brook escaped the pogroms (massacres and persecution of the Jews) of the late 1800’s, landed penniless in Detroit, Michigan in the early 1900’s, learned English, became a tailor, and signed up with honor to fight for his new country.  The phrase “with the colors”, which was printed onto the bottom of the US Expeditionary Forces stationary, is a solemn and heartfelt term for the American flag, used especially to honor those who have died for the greater cause.

$725