Terms like “Isolation, Remote, Solitude” are my watchwords. The places that I find solace.

As an Iraq veteran I often find my thoughts jumbled, troubled and dark. I find refuge in isolated and lonely places where dark thoughts can be vacated.

Some of these places are just off the freeway and others down lonely roads. Most are found in the deserts of the West.

Many of these places are decayed and abandoned, reflecting feelings of loss and despair, where other veterans have found refuge and left their mark in ways that express their isolation. One desert landscape shows the isolation that captivated a WWII veteran who later died by suicide, leaving behind sculptures that expressed his grief and outrage.

It is in these remote areas, absent of distraction and the noise that surrounds us in civilization, that these troubled thoughts and feelings evaporate like desert dust.

As veterans, we can be frustrating to those who are closest to us. We often have strained relationships with our significant others. Employment also can be difficult for many of us. We are misunderstood by our fellow citizens who on one hand see us as heroes, which we are far from, (and bristle at the label), to seeing us as victims unable to function in society. These stereotypes can be misleading and stigmatizing.

My goal with this project is to express my feelings in a way that I can share with my non-veteran friends and family as many struggle with understanding the path I have taken. This project has been ongoing since 2019 and was the subject of an exhibit at the Art Access Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. I consider it a living exhibit and will continue to add images as I find them.