Share: mail

In the entry area of the PCC Art Gallery there hangs a framed offset poster of Marine Terrell Cook. His face is stoic; his T-shirt is bunched up around his wrists, pulled down to reveal the tattoo on his upper chest. ‘You’re Still Alive,’ it reads in cursive writing – a tattooed memorial to a lost comrade.The photo of Cook is part of ‘The Soldier’s Skin: An Endless Edition,’ the new Mary Beth Heffernan exhibition running until Nov. 17 at the Art Gallery.

The series, part of the citywide ‘SKIN/Art & Ideas Festival,’ features photographs of the freshly inked memorial tattoos of Marines recently returned from the war in Iraq.

The display is unconventional. Instead of exhibiting her photographs on the wall, Heffernan opted for a presentation she called an “endless edition.” Poster prints were stacked on the gallery floor in an open invitation for visitors to take free copies with them.

The photographs humanize the war experience. The tattoos suggest the subjects’ need to memorialize both the lives of the peers they lost in combat and the trauma still so much a part of their own as war survivors.

“People express the idea of what it means to be American, what it is to sacrifice,” said Heffernan.

A photograph of Joshua Hall’s tattoo shows a chain of dog tags and a cross slipped through cupped hands. “Brother in Arms Even in Death” the script above the image reads.

Since the exhibitions opening on Oct. 10, PCC students and staff have responded with appreciation for Heffernan’s work
“The tattoos are beautiful and in this case, I think they help with the healing. The series really shows the special bonds soldiers form with one another in wartime,” said Kimberly Correa, 20, a business management administration major visiting the gallery.

English professor Jane Hallinger is encouraging her students to visit the exhibition.

She saw parallels between the tattoos and the intricately detailed shields used by soldiers of ancient civilizations.

“Tattoos are our modern adornments,” said Jane Hallinger.

Follow: rssyoutubeinstagrammail

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.