Soldiers of My Dreams!

 

From the Battlefront to Canvas, a First-Hand Experience!

Soldiers of My Dreams!

The Ongoing Logogramism Style of Life Vs. Chaos

Soldier of Love, that is what I really am!

Despite being a dreamer since childhood, my destiny took me elsewhere when I grew up, dividing my time between my studio and my time as an army soldier, where I partook in many harsh wars. During my army career, I was injured many times and I experienced all kinds of ground combat but what stuck deep in my heart and cracked my soul was something else. It was a worrisome scene that I might never forget!

I once had to walk more than ten miles in a total pitch black desert at 3:00 am without any ammo. That road to hell was located between my destroyed shelter close to the ancient ruins of Ur and the closest city on the Euphrates. What worsened the situation was the heavy smoke from the countless burning oil wells and acidic rain that made it extremely difficult to figure out my directions. However, the paved highway that was once surrounded by hundreds of military trenches helped me to cautiously walk through the ghostly shapes of many packs of starved wild dogs, wolves, and other creatures of the night who were busy consuming the carcasses of the dead soldiers laying down on both sides of the road. They were most likely killed by thermobaric bombs a day or two earlier! 

These horrible dark shapes of the beasts and the frightening and intimidating sounds of the animals in the night fighting over the carcasses of dead soldiers haunted me for years. This was true even after I finished my training in Fort Sill, OK as part of the USF-I and was once again stationed in that country twenty years later. During all my army time, I have never forgotten that tragic scene. What helped me almost heal is the series of many miniature artworks Soldiers of My Dreams that I started in 1991. I have also done other paintings on canvas that included themes and details from that long night!

Although I will not hesitate to take a bullet when it comes to defending freedom and my home, I have never considered myself a warrior for a moment, but rather a lover who dislikes war and appreciates peace and love! 

The composition of this captivating artwork Soldiers of My Dream is very simple; it contains three main visual elements derived from the ancient Mesopotamian pictograph writing system (i.e. males laying dead inside the mortar and pestle). The two triangles on the top sides of the Pestle are symbols for the word "meal", pronounced NINDA in Sumerian and akalu in Akkadian. The dead soldiers who are depicted laying down inside the mortar are the crushed food or the fuel of the war!

The technique is also quite unique because it mixes the Hot-mono-print technique, which I created in 1988, and a variety of mixed media on a small surface!

My portrait on the right side of the image recalls the time when I had that awful experience.

 

Artist: Amer Hanna Fatuhi

Artwork Title & Artist: Soldiers of My Dreams

Technique: Mixed-media

Measurements: 10 x 10 Cm | 3.93 x 3.93 Inches

Date & Price: 1991 | $5,000