Jaclyn&Rae - 2023
MILITARY MENTAL ARMOR EXHIBIT.
Now that’s tough.
Mental health amongst the United States Military has been a leading cause of death since the start of war. From post traumatic stress disorder, to a lack of skills provided to adapt back into regular routine, there are numerous ways in which veterans lack the proper support needed to get them back on their feet after facing such brutality. Further than that, the mental health stigma amongst veterans skyrockets to an all time high, as post-war heroes find it ridiculous to reach out for mental health support after the tragedies and obstacles they have faced that seem far larger than a cognitive issue.
Every twelve hours, nine U.S. military veterans commit suicide. Currently within the United States, more U.S. veterans have died of suicide than in physical combat. What’s more jaw-dropping about these numbers is the lack of attention and care being taken to solve this problem. With nearly 130 soldiers dying of suicide a week, you would think a portion of the money going into training these soldiers in combat would be dedicated to helping them achieve success after risking their lives for fellow Americans.
Military mental health is a massive social issue that demands attention. This was my goal when creating and developing this exhibit, to provide an outlet for veterans to seek help without having to admit it to the public eye. In addition, this exhibit was a way to connect with my local community in Phoenix, and spread awareness of the tragedy being faced behind closed doors in so many of our friends and family members lives. Building this piece entirely by hand, I spend hours wood cutting, laser cutting, painting, sanding, gluing, and measuring, to complete this exhibit, and I could not be more proud.
THE CLOCK.
We know that veterans face mental health struggles, but how does this relate to time and space? Using the data and background research described above, I put my dexterity to the test, designing, developing, and building this clock by hand. When coming up with the layout of this clock, I kept getting caught up in the idea of the enhanced brain activity that occurs when veterans develop and experience PTSD and other associated issues. To display this, I created my own sculpture of the brain out of clay, used that to make a mold from silicone, to which I then filled with resin and gold flakes. The gold flakes in the elevated pieces represent the elevated brain activity. When the hour hand, which is represented by the tail end of a bullet, points to the elevated pieces on the clock, this represents a veteran suicide occurring in real time.
THE EXHIBIT.
The exhibit below was designed on illustrator, created in a design studio, and sourced from local wood shops all across Tempe, Arizona. Laser cutting each individual letter that is pasted on my board, spray painting each element with extreme precision, and sanding until my fingers bled was just the beginning of the exhibit process. When it came to the physical application of my designs onto the board, this became far more tricky. Dealing with a non-level floor, a display that I had to nail together by hand, and the daunting task of figuring out how to keep everything straight and perfectly measured down to the millimeter, were tasks that consumed me for hours and days on end. Achieving a perfect layout is what I intended to do, and I achieved just that. On the right of my board are facts about mental health amongst veterans that are common, but not commonly known to the public. They are obscured by a die-cut of a brain on top of them to display how these obstacles are hidden within the veteran brain, and hard to see from an outside perspective. The left side of the board showcases three separate veterans who open up about their mental health struggles, and share the ways in which PTSD has effected their lives. In a powerful and provoking story, my exhibit offers individuals are able to put together the pieces of the severity of the situation and just how critical it is that veterans receive the help that they need.
