National Veterans' Art Museum in Chicago, IL Debuts New Exhibit: "Strength in Fragility" by USAF Vet, Jenn Hassin

Artist and veteran, Jenn Hassin, poses in front of her "A Battle Lost" constructed from 8,030 handmade paper rolls crafted from military uniforms, gold foil and matte medium: 101" x 52" x 6". Created in 2015 using 2014 veteran suicide statistics, this piece is a memorial to the 22 veterans who take their own lives each day. Its total of 8,030 paper scrolls reflects each individual lost during 2014. Scroll down for more of Jenn's work below...

The National Veterans' Art Museum, 4041 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago, now debuts the work of its second artist in residence, Jen Hassin, the 2025 Veteran Artist Fellow. Jenn's exhibit reflects work she has created over the span of a decade translating trauma into art. It's a very personal visual journey that traces suffering, memory and resilience through the transformation of material across 27 mixed media pieces including ceramics. The uniforms she works with have been donated to her from service members or their families across all military branches.

Jenn says, "It takes two hours of work to turn a uniform into pulp and countless hours after that turning it into paper and then rolling it for the finished piece. Taking a uniform and transforming it ultimately into paper is alchemy -- a ceremonial moment where the DNA of that uniform is now forever part of that sheet of paper."

"My work is a labor of love, rooted in the transformation of personal artifacts that carry embedded histories of trauma. I reconfigure these materials into works that honor individual and collective experiences."

Each art piece in the exhibit carries embedded histories tied to loss or survival. The overall effect illustrates that healing from trauma isn't linear but layered and shared across the human experience. Viewers are inspired to reflect upon what has been endured by others, to imagine how we might carry each other forward with the knowledge that beauty often lives in what has been broken and then remade.

Amazingly, The National Veteran's Art Museum, is the only organization over the last 29 years dedicated to collecting and preserving veterans' art with more than 2,000 pieces now in its collection. It was officially established on Oct 12, 1986, by several emerging veteran artists and volunteers of the Vietnam Veterans Art Group that first started exhibiting veteran artwork in 1979.

Jenn is the Assistant Professor of Ceramics and Sculpture at Saint Edward's University in Austin, Texas. Her work has been shown in the Smithsonian and the Pentagon. It is also in private and public collections across the nation. She works with the intention of making a difference--giving voice to what is often unspoken and creating space for connection, conversation and collective healing.

ADMISSION IS FREE

Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday | 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Open Memorial Day and Veterans Day

HOW TO HELP A VETERAN IN CRISIS...

You can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 988 (push 1) and speak to someone immediately, 24/7, even if you are a family member. You can also bring a veteran to the nearest VA medical center. It doesn’t matter what the veteran’s discharge status is or if they are enrolled in VA health care. The VA may be able to provide or cover the cost of your emergency mental health care (at a VA or non-VA emergency room) and up to 90 days of related services—even if you’re not enrolled in VA health care.

"Vibrant Paths" ARTIST STATEMENT: "Rolled handmade paper made from military uniforms. Clothing from Afghan Women Veterans, American Women Veterans, children's clothing and Afghan Ceremonial Dresses. Partially hand-sprayed with gray toned acrylic and metallic paints on panel, 48" x 36" x 4". This piece maps the road out of Hazar using spirals of handmade paper from those who served in Project Raha. Bright colors trace the path forward while muted grays represent the neighborhoods left behind. This piece honors the journey from trauma toward hope."

"Motherland of Mourning" ARTIST STATEMENT: "This work explores the fragility of nationhood, motherhood, and identity through symbolic material and form. Using pulp made from military uniforms, glazed porcelain, and a hijab positioned like a flag, I construct a layered landscape of grief and survival. The eagle--a national emblem of power--is rendered in glazed porcelain intended to evoke death, yet remains hauntingly alive, reflecting a struggle between strength and surrender."

"Soaring Sisters" ARTIST STATEMENT: Pulped U.S. and Afghan military uniforms, a navy-blue jacket worn leaving Afghanistan, a ceremonial Afghan dress with embedded hijabs from Afghan veteran women on panel. Honors the bond between U.S. and Afghan women veterans. The two doves--symbols of sisterhood -- rises beyond borders and shared trauma."

"Poetic Remedies" ARTIST STATEMENT: "Created in collaboration with my Afghan sisters, this piece centers a handwritten poem that speaks to our shared humanity and collective suffering. The verse translated from Dari, reminds us that all human beings are connected -- when on is in pain, none are untouched. through this work, we honor not only the women's voices and lived experiences, but also a truth that transcends borders: that empathy is both memory and action." TRANSLATION: All human beings are in truth akin; all in creation share one origin, when fate allots a member pangs and pains, no ease for other members then remains.