For more about the exhibition at SLOMA please visit their website:  

Nicki's sculpture currently showing at SLOMA

Iron Sight:  A Portrait of Brandon Powell
By Nicki Sucec
Helicopter blade (stainless steel) and mild steel
 
Iron Sight is one of four portraits made of helicopter blades featured in a body of work by Sucec called Ascension first shown in Seattle, WA.  Through the metaphor of flight the work in this exhibition explored the ways in which humans attempt to recover from and move beyond extreme life challenges.  The portraits (inspired by personal interviews) embody who the subjects are and how they survived what they went through.
 
In October 2004, twenty-year-old Brandon Powell was deployed to Iraq.  Two months later he was paralyzed from the neck down.  A sniper’s bullet from a Dragonov rifle made it through a small gap in Brandon’s armor instantly severing his cervical spine.
 
Brandon gets through each day with his great sense of humor and with the help of his brother who he says, “gets me up in the morning, puts me to bed at night, bathes me, feeds me...does everything for me that I cannot do for myself.”
 
Brandon paints models with small brushes he holds in his teeth and still goes shooting.  His buddies set up a special rifle mount for him and a trigger he can “pull” by blowing into a straw.

Here is a photo of Brandon with his models taken in 2012

For more info about Ascension and to see images of the other portraits in that body of work, please visit Nicki's website (not mobile friendly): 

Ruth Wallen, Nina Karavasiles, and Anne Mudge went on a field trip to Finch Frolic Garden  in Fallbrook to understand more about permaculture, and in particular the practice of hugelkultur.  Hugelkultur replicates the natural process of decomposition.   Tree stumps and branches, as well as yard waste, are covered with soil. As they gradually decompose, they hold water and create fertilizer for new vegetation.  Ruth and Nina plan to collaborate for a Dia de los Muertos project at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido next year, using some of this new/old science. Anne was glad to join them to satisfy her curiosity.