U-M professor draws attention to 'Faces of the Fallen' exhibit

Thirteen portraits by Associate Professor David Chung are part of the "Faces of the Fallen" exhibit in Arlington, Va., that depicts soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

(Above) This portrait of 1st Lt. David D. Slavenas, Genoa, Ill., Army National Guard, is one of 13 created for the exhibit by U-M associate professor David Chung. (Photo by David Chung). (Below) David Chung (Photo by Tom Koch)

"It really brought up a lot of complex emotions about the war," says Chung, who teaches in the School of Art & Design and also holds an appointment in the Korean Studies Program as director of the Archive of Diasporic Korea. The exhibit opened March 22 for soldiers' families at Arlington National Cemetery. It now is open to the general public.

"I'm against the policy of this war," Chung says, adding the project started as a peaceful protest. "At the same time, it's entirely appropriate and fitting to do portraits of the soldiers. I'm trying to make an art work that's sensitive to the families. It's not a tribute to the actual war, but a tribute to the soldiers."

Chung's works are among 1,328 portraits of American soldiers in the exhibit, presented at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at the entrance to Arlington Cemetery. It commemorates those who died in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars from Oct. 10, 2001, through Nov. 11, 2004.

About 200 artists from across the country were asked to create portraits of the dead soldiers, based on military photos and snapshots. When no photos were available, artists depicted soldiers in profile.

The 13 soldiers drawn by Chung died together, in a Nov. 2, 2004, ambush near Felugia. "They were on this one Chinook helicopter that was shot down," Chung says.

"They gave us photographs of the soldiers that were taken off of Web sites; half were official Marine portraits, the other half are just snapshots."

Chung used a scratchboard technique to create 6-by-8-inch black and white portraits.

"It was a challenging thing to do. I wanted to create something that was true to the photographs that were given. I kind of wanted to express the pain of the death and of the killing."

Chung's work was familiar to project organizer and Washington portrait artist Annette Polan, as he formerly taught at George Mason University in nearby Fairfax, Va. She asked him to participate.

Chung doubts if he'll be asked to do more portraits. "Somebody told me that of all the artists I was given the most to do."

For more information on the exhibit, or to view the portraits, visit http://www.facesofthefallen.org.