Aaron Hughes, senior in FAA, is an Iraq war veteran who composed a series of abstract paintings, drawings and other works entitled “Shifting Memories.”

His inspiration for the works came from the photographs he took while in the Middle East.

His work has evolved to become a critical reflection of his service which took him both to Iran and Iraq.

The series will premiere at the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, 1801 S. Indiana Ave. in Chicago, beginning on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Q: What’s the purpose of the new series?

A: I’m investigating the way I was holding myself in these photographs from Iraq. Now, looking back at the photographs, I see myself posing for the photographs in front of carnage and blown up humvees and these people just to show I was there. Why did I take all these pictures in front of death? I was being insensitive. The way our culture perceives itself is so inherent that I didn’t even question the way I perceived myself in Iraq. Through my own reflection, it will allow others to reflect on their positions.

Q: What artistic techniques did you use in your new works?

A: I’m trying to animate those backgrounds that were originally perceived as dead. There’s a lot of texture in them in contrast to myself, which is flat, symbolizing my own separation from these physical spaces.

Q: How has the addition of your new pieces shifted the meaning of your series?

A: The show has grown from just expressing this experience to starting to deconstruct it and explore how I situated myself in the experience. The series is a metaphor for the way the United States positions itself in relationship to other spaces – cultural, economic, physical, emotional – and how we as a culture position ourselves in relationship to other cultures.

Q: How do you feel about it going to the National Vietnam Veteran Museum?

A: I am pretty excited because it’s an opportunity to show my work in Chicago, close to where my former unit is based.

Q: What is this opening’s importance in light of it being on Veterans Day?

A: I definitely think that veterans’ voices aren’t being heard, unless they already fit into the preconceived narrative of a veteran – the heroic national veteran who made it home. I’m hoping that on a day like Veterans Day that veteran voices will be heard. Hopefully I’ll be able to share this experience with other veterans and find some type of common ground to make for a lot of conversations and a little bit of political pressure from veterans.

Q: How can people who aren’t veterans connect with your work?

A: For anyone who comes in the door, there’s some type of an entry point into the artwork that will allow them to engage in discourse with veterans and empower everyone to have a dialogue about the war. And I got the Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Iraq Veterans Against War to come to the museum after their annual rally downtown (to see my pieces) and other presentations that day.

More info: http://www.aarhughes.org