Annie Wyrick

Artist Statement
Guilt and hatred followed the soldiers like ghosts, haunting their thoughts. For my art
piece I was trying to depict the guilt and hatred that the soldiers who fought in Vietnam felt. I
decided that I would sculpt a soldier thinking about the people he killed and his friends that died.
He is bent over and covering his face as if he is crying. In the thought bubble there is a
vietnamese man and a soldier. The vietnamese man represents the innocent lives that were lost
due to american soldiers. The soldier (in the thought bubble) represents the soldiers who died
during the war. The soldier is thinking about the innocent lives he may have taken, and his fallen
comrade who died under his command.
There were several things that I did to make my project cohesive and true to my
perspective statement. I drew three drafts on paper of the basic outline I wanted to follow. After
completing my third draft, I started my final draft. To make sure it came together cohesively, I
made sure to keep the clay smooth and the right shade of green. I also had to mix clay colors
several times in order to get the right shade of brown for the boots. Textured the ground to make
it look mossy.
I was inspired and influenced for my final draft in a few different ways. When I was
looking at pictures of vietnam soldiers, I found an image of a soldier sitting with his face in his
hands. This picture inspired my final art piece. One of the things that influenced my art was
Platoon. I added the silhouette of a Vietnamese man into the thought bubble because of one of
the scenes. Another thing that influenced my project was The Things They Carried.One of the
characters, Jimmy Cross, inspired the soldier in the thought bubble. Jimmy Cross felt that the
death of one of his men was his fault. Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my final
draft.