Helmet apparition (major league infidel)

In October 2009 Shaun Gladwell went to Afghanistan and several bases in the Middle East as an official war artist, commissioned by the Australian War Memorial. For two weeks he was attached to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in Afghanistan, which is engaged in a range of training, logistical, reconnaissance, and battle operations as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

Helmets are a recurring image in Gladwell’s art. Worn by skaters, motorcyclists, and “car surfers”, they point to human anatomy pushed to extremes. In his Afghanistan art, helmets serve as a symbol of war’s immense danger: "They have this direct connection to a soldier’s body. They’re a piece of technology that is the last stand in protecting a major organ. If everything else goes, but if you can support the brain – in the skull protected by the helmet – at least that’s something." [Gladwell]

Through his paintings of helmets Gladwell also explores the way individual soldiers adorn their bodies and environment in conflict zones. The paintings display several personalised embroidered patches, which soldiers often make or buy to customise their body armour.