During the Vietnam War, the United States used an estimated twelve million gallons of the herbicide Agent Orange to defoliate the landscape and contaminate food sources. Agent Orange contains high levels of dioxin, a carcinogenic and mutagenic chemical that has continued to alter the minds and bodies of generations of Vietnamese people. The work of Keisha Luce focuses on members of the second and third generations of victims.
Using life-molding techniques, I created sculptures during a three- month trip to Vietnam to document visually and physically the long-term consequences of chemical warfare. My activity as a documentary sculptor emerged from my own narrative as the daughter of a disabled Vietnam veteran, who died at the age of thirty-eight of an Agent Orange-related cancer. I see this work as a call to action and believe that art can effectively contribute to the discourse on war and conflict…. This work is dedicated to the millions of victims and their families living with the effects of Agent Orange.
~ Keisha Luce
A number of her sculptures were on display during the Odysseus Project Art Exhibit: The Hidden Costs of War in 2010. Learn more about the work of Keisha Luce on Sum & Parts: Documentary Sculpture and through this interview on New Hampshire Public Radio: Sculpting Agent Orange’s Legacy.