Texas born Jenn Hassin focuses on her process to achieve visually intricate and impactful art.
At once monotonous and obsessive, Jenn rolls each piece of her carefully chosen material in an extremely time consuming process. In the piece below she rolled exactly 8,030 pieces of paper, handmade from military uniforms, to represent and commemorate each veteran suicide in 2014. As a United States Air Force veteran, she labors for her art because she believes her personal journey adds a special depth to her work.
Jenn was featured in our second issue. See more on her website, Instagram or in person at Invenio Studios (916 Springdale Rd, Bldg 2 Ste 107, Austin, TX 78702)!
rolled paper handmade from military uniforms, gold foil & matte medium, 101″ x 52″ x 6″
This work represents the 22 veterans that take their own lives every day. 8,030 rolls make up A Battle Lost, one for every veteran suicide last year. I roll the paper to create a spiral, a symbol of life to death, beginning to end. The gold is inspired by a Japanese practice called Kintsugi where they fill cracks in pottery with gold. This highlights the cracks and damage, yet shows that it is now stronger than ever, as well as more valuable and precious. The gold fills in the cracks of various abstract maps from war zones dating back to WWII to present. If we want to fix the problem of veteran suicide and become a stronger military community, we need to band together and come up with a solution. My thoughts are that the issues stem all the way back to Active Duty status and the stigmas attached to seeking mental health attention- this never leaves us. Let us unite and make a change, one day at a time, adapt and overcome.
