SPONSOR'S LAST FOUR

About the Exhibition and project title.…

 

Currently, out of 341 million people in the US, only 1 million are spouses to active-duty military service members. 92% of these spouses are women. Being a military spouse is honorable and challenging, a role often referred to as our nation’s “unsung heroes.” Despite Through the hardships, these spouses demonstrate remarkable resilience and strength.

 

This project consists of two portions: —a 65-page written thesis and the visual component in front of you. I turned to sociologists, economists, feminists, and other military spouses to inform my work. My research is a combination of facts and lived experiences. It explores the mechanisms that shape military spouse culture.

 

Visually, I explore themes concerning identity and the importance of community as shaped by this nomadic lifestyle.  This can be seen in my “ process” (how I create my work) and the focus on the female spouse and her friend groupings (or community).  I decided that more expressive, abstract, “disrupted portraits” would accomplish my ideas (instead of tight, realistic, and memetic paintings). This process is also symbolic of the military lifestyle.  It represents the chaotic and itinerant aspects.

                  For example, I will draw or paint a portrait and then draw or paint over them. Repeat.  I paint the layers loosely and leave areas “open” so that previous versions are visible.  This suggests a passage of time and comments on the spouse's identity.  According to sociologists, identity is shaped by the community around you, your family, career, and beliefs.  For the military spouse, identity is constantly shifting. 

                  I also never fully resolve these paintings.  When talking to spouses, while there is a universal pride in their situation, there is also a unanimous feeling of unsettlement, a wearing on the persona.  As one spouse said, “Sometimes it feels like there are cracks in your very foundation.” 

 

                  I aimed to deeply connect with the emotive side of being a spouse—what it truly feels like to live with constant upheaval, hold it all together through PCS, deployments, and TDYs, and face each move with optimism, strength, and determination. I wanted to create honest paintings that evoke real emotions, not idealized or memetic. I wanted to provide an expressive representation of a challenging lifestyle.  I wanted beautiful, bold paintings of real women.

 

A strong person must repeatedly stay open to friendships, relationships, and new situations.

 

There isn’t a shortage of data on military spouses.  Here are a few facts that help shape this subculture:

• Currently, there are 1 million spouses of active-duty military out of 341 million

• 92% of military spouses are still female.

• Military spouses move on average every 2-3 years

• Military spouses have anxiety or mental health episodes that double the civilian population.

• 2/3 of military spouses are unemployed or underemployed.

• 30% of military spouses have a certification or professional credentials that must be transferred between states.

• 75% of military spouses don’t have their retirement accounts.

• The military has the highest divorce rate compared to other career paths.

• Military spouses get paid 25% less than their civilian components.

-Referred to as dependents, tied-earners, migrant spouses, closed social group,, and the last social group for feminism to reach.

​

​​

As for the term “sponsor’s last four.”  When spouses marry into the military, they become a “dependent.” of the sponsoring service member.  Spouses are often asked for “their sponsor’s last four of his/her social security number” or simply “sponsor’s last four.”  Their name is not requested first; only the number is needed.   While not intended to be negative (and often shrugged off as annoying) it is a perfect example of what the spouse faces…

 

As an artist and a visual storyteller, I am compelled to tell our story-  the story of the military spouse.

​

Jacey Eckhart, “How Long-Married Military Couples Stay Together,” Military.com, September 1, 2022, https://www.military.com/spouse/relationships/how-long-married-military-couples-stay- together.html#:~:text=These%20couples%20also%20moved%20an,the%20young%20marriages%20around %20them.

 Hiring Our Heroes, “Unemployment and Underemployment Continue to Plague Military Spouses and Affect Financial Stability,” U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, October 19, 2023, 

https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/workforce/unemployment-and-underemployment-continue-plague- military-spouses-and-affect-

financial#:~:text=With%20an%20unemployment%20rate%20that,the%20U.S.%20Chamber%20of%20Com merce.

Lizann Lightfoot, “Military Stress Impacts the Mental Health of Military Spouses. Here’s How They Cope.,” Ready Healthy & Able Powered by HealthyWomen, May 18, 2023, https://military.healthywomen.org/military-

stress-impacts-the-mental-health-of-military-spouses-heres-how-they-

cope/#:~:text=According%20to%20a%20study%20on,to%20service%20members%20after%20combat.

​