Sponsor's Last Four

#sponsorslastfour #disruptedmilitaryspouseportraits

From December 2024

Sponsor's Last Four: Kimberly, 12" x 12," Oil, Pastel, Charcoal, Gouache, and spray paint on Arches Oil mounted on Aluminum panel, 2024.

As my husband approaches retirement from the military, I find myself thinking about this term often.

" Sponsor's Last Four. "

It's so common in my life and those around me that it seems normal. And if a military spouse were to read this, they would know exactly what I'm talking about. Sometimes it's just annoying. Sometimes, it is easily shrugged off and ignored. Sometimes it's ugly and in your face. A big pointy finger reminding you...

Of what?

Ah, the answer can be complicated and opinionated. So, for the moment, the best thing to do is stick to the facts.

Sponsor's Last Four is how military spouses are itemized, accounted for, given access to privileges awarded to our sponsor (aka your husband or wife.). You see, I am a dependent and my husband is my sponsor.

It comes up with any of the "benefits" that military personnel are allotted. For example, taking my family to the medical clinic is a benefit, as is enrolling kids on post.

Using the commissary on post: benefit.

I remember the first time that I actually encountered this. I had just married my husband, left my job as a high school art teacher in FL and moved to Upstate NY, quite a shock as it is. If I remember correctly, it was the first time I went to the medical center, I think to have my records transfered.

"Last four," demanded/requested the lady before "hello, how are you?"

"Last four of what? My social?" I asked- a brand-new spouse with zilch expericence at this game. I still thought of myself as an independant woman. I knew my name, but apparently that didn't count or help.

"No, last four of your sponsor's." she said. I remember the sigh, deep and heavy and full of reproach. Or bordem- maybe it was bordem with another import spouse.

I don't even think I knew his last four then. I completely caught off guard. Well, crap. Suddenly, I wasn't this independant woman anymore, I was just a girl that didn't know the rules. This was not my world.

Sponsor's Last Four: Karen, 12" x 12," Oil, Pastel, Charcoal, Gouache, and spray paint on Arches Oil mounted on Aluminum panel, 2024

So as we moved forward towards his retirement, I kept thinking that I wanted to do something for us, for the spouses. I wanted to create paintings that reflected this experience. I've written about it in my artist statements and on Instagram quite often.

I wanted to show how it feels to live through upheaval, through constant transitions and uncertainty. I wanted to show how this accumulates over time.

Military spouses have the highest divorce rate of any career.

Military spouses experience anxiety and mental health issues double the population.

Military spouses, while many have higher education degrees and certifications, are underemployed or unemployed at rates higher than other subcultures.

I began to create these paintings where I would draw and paint them, but then I would repeatedly redraw, paint over, spray over, scrape into, etc. (I also started creating stencils with simple "tick" marks—groupings—to represent "sponsor's last four" that would be embedded in the work.) The surface became a palimpsest to me.

The layers and marks represent the chaos and uncertainty. The images of these women, while beautiful, are not idealized. It is more an expressive representation of how it feels to be a military spouse.

Sponsor's Last Four: Aiko, 12" x 12," Oil, Pastel, Charcoal, Gouache, and spray paint on Arches Oil mounted on Aluminum panel, 2024