Jan Schwieterman Portfolio Artist Statement Stalingrad Dark Angel Inspired by vintage propaganda magazines my work employs toy soldiers as a way of representing a new take on an old subject. War. The universal aspect of toys is that they feel like representations of who we are on a personal level and in turn as a society. And yet, despite their power as ideals, they are powerless, like a child, able to be manipulated in the hands of the owner. Its the contradictory message of innocence and transgression inherent in a toy soldier that moves us.