Krzysztof Wodiczko

A flame hovers in space, seeming to flicker in response to the breath of a speaker — one of many veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have entrusted their stories to New York– and Cambridge-based artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. His art is a memorial to the trauma the veterans have suffered and to their comrades who did not survive. The art creates a safe space where voices that might otherwise be marginalized or stifled can be heard — where veterans can hear themselves, and begin to heal. Through the truth-telling that happens in the course of the collaborative creative process, art redefines our understanding of security. To observers who have not shared the soldiers’ experience of trauma and sacrifice, Wodiczko extends an invitation to come closer, to absorb their stories. If we can decrease the distance between us, he believes, we may reduce the need for such work in the future.