Toe Tag

Toe Tag
Juliellen Byrne

Artist Biography
Acquisition Number: 2010.5
Medium: Clay, cotton, waxed line, and wire strung paper tags
Size: 45" x 14" x 9"
Date: 2009
Credit: Purchased by the Canton Museum of Art

“Every soldier is someone’s baby - both soldiers from our front and from our enemies’ fronts. What we do to these soldiers - both our own and our enemies’ - we do to someone’s child." Juliellen Byrne addresses her major premise in this work, "Toe Tag." This piece was created during a period of violence, the Iraq War, when hundreds of thousands of troops were being killed in combat. The paper toe tags that adorn the figure are covered in the names of soldiers killed in the Iraq War. "Toe Tag" depicts a juxtaposition between innocence and violence. The doll heads with praying hands are virtuous, while the toe tags indicate violence and death. Byrne notes that praying is sometimes all someone can do when a loved one is sent to war, and the feeling of helplessness in this act. The different sizes of the doll heads hold meaning as well, with the top, larger head representing those in power whose policies decide the fate of every soldier. The use of paper tags gives the impression of price tags, and that innocent lives are the cost of war. This juxtaposition is a commentary on sending children off to war and the ultimate price of doing so. There is a need for the public to remember the names of those whose lives were lost, as this piece calls for us to do.