2019 Female Veteran Artist Show

In 2019 a group of female combat veterans who are also artists got together and held an art show called "Through the Fire" at the Portsmouth Art and Cultural Center. These pieces are a collaboration between Angela Tilley and Sierra Sunshine. The concept was to make bottles reminiscent of historic rum and liquor bottles and adding tattoo images, which are both iconic in Naval tradition. We decided to use traditional "Sailor Jerry" style tattoos but changing the protagonist to be a female sailor. This flipped the script of the objectifying and misogynistic timbre these tattoos traditionally held, to become messages to and from female Sailors, such as warning of the consequences of too much alcohol, dealing with the questions of whether women can meet the standards, and questioning the amount of paychecks versus the cost of being away from loved ones.