20″h x 24″w
“Combat Paper” made of Class A army uniform, thread, charcoal
His boots.
As vividly as his blue eyes flash in my memory, I still see those boots—black, molded to his stride, polished again and again until they gleamed with discipline and duty.
At an art opening years ago, I met a group of combat veterans who were transforming their uniforms into pulp, creating handmade paper as part of their healing. On that paper — Combat Paper — they sketched, painted, and printed their memories. Their stories moved me to tears.
In time, I was invited to their studio in Blackburn, NJ, where I stood beside them and tore apart my Soldier Boy’s Class A winter wool uniform. Sheet by sheet, we pulled it from the vat as new paper. Onto that sacred surface, I stitched the creases of his boots — the ones that carried him through decades of service — ultimately shaping the work into a fiber art sculpture that holds both memory and mourning.
Soldier on, Soldier Boy. Soldier on.
