Air is replaced with water as bird-like glimmers of women gasp skyward for their last breath. A cemetery of earth sinks away and floats still in remembrance all at once.

This image is a tribute to my grandmother who passed away in 2006. As the wife of a Navy captain, she proudly served as a WAVE (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) during WWII. This piece is meant to commemorate her generation as well as mourn their gradual departure.

Recruiting posters for WAVES often depicted several women in uniform standing iconically against an American landscape. example 1 example 2 example 3

I had posters like these in the back of my mind while composing this image.