Play Soldier

2023
Mixed Media on Canvas
60 × 48 in

Play Soldier explores the fascination young boys often have with soldiers—the uniform, the courage, the adventure, and the romanticized idea of becoming a hero. At that age, war has not yet become complicated. It exists in the imagination as bravery, strength, and honor.

But beneath the helmet is something far more fragile: a child.

In the background, I play with the familiar visual language of the Krispy Kreme logo as a metaphor for sweetness and innocence. There is something deliberately uncomfortable in that reference. These young minds are still sweet, trusting, and vulnerable, yet society has a way of consuming that innocence—devouring their naïveté, kindness, and softness as they move toward adulthood.

The helmet therefore becomes more than an object of play. It becomes a symbol of protection. Rather than preparing this child for battle, I imagine it shielding what is still precious within him.

Play Soldier asks us to protect the tenderness of young boys for as long as we can. Their kindness is not something they should have to lose in order to become men.