AMANDA GOSSE
Veterans
Acrylic on canvas
50 x 50cm
This work is an acknowledgment of the important role that pigeons, and other animals, played during the First and Second World Wars.
Pigeons were an effective communication method, carrying vital information in a pouch on their back, or a vial tied to a leg, between the front line and headquarters, especially from locations where radio communication was not available.
Titled ‘Veterans’, the painting comprises an antique photograph of a returned soldier, releasing a messenger pigeon to freedom after its service. The photograph is positioned on the mantelpiece of a loved one, against a backdrop of rosemary-patterned wallpaper. Rosemary grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula and is a symbol of commemoration and, as well as the familiar red poppy, is traditionally worn on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.
Since reading stories of the many lives that were saved, as a result of carrier pigeons’ successful flight missions, I now view the humble pigeon very differently … and hope viewers of this painting will too.
