Boots and Branches in Afghanistan
Posted by ethanseye on:
Today I heard from a friend who's in Afghanistan. She's contracting as a social scientist doing local development work with the Army. Before leaving last winter she came through and had me design a tattoo for her based on the oaks we grew up with in the Santa Ynez Valley. I ended up staying with her through the whole tattoo process. The ink was still wet when I took this picture. I was and still remain conflicted in my feelings about a US mission in Afghanistan. I pushed her to explain to my why she was going and what this image would mean to her. My sense since then is that any worthy strategy will involve people like her listening to Afghanis, and in fact, be the emphasis. This was one of the most meaningful art projects I've undertaken, and one of the most simple. In her email today she said the tree had served her during some tough times.
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