IGY6

YOLANDA JONES

IGY6 means “I Got Your Six” and the poem is dedicated to everyone who had my back and helped me heal. I think of art as my feelings, thoughts, and emotions on a canvas.

For this piece, I wanted to capture skateboarders in motion. I thought about abstract brilliant colors because that’s how I see them in my mind — just like vivid colors swimming by this way and that way.

Abstract art and splatter painting is, I think, one of the best forms of art because there’s no thought to it. It’s a mind dump of those jumbled thoughts that clutter your mind. You just let it out and it feels really really good. Especially when there are lots of stressors. It’s almost like a punching bag without the bag.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

YOLANDA JONES

Savannah, Georgia

U.S. Army & Air Force Veteran

Yolanda served 17+ years across Army active, Army National Guard, and Air Force National Guard. She returned to the U.S. with a serious neck injury after two tours in Iraq as a flight medic, but the daily physical pain led to a deeper and “invisible” mental pain.

Through Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), including Project Odyssey and the Warrior Care Network, she’s been liberated.

“They taught me how to love me. I learned what trust, self-love, and self-care really means. Art has become my happy place when I’m upset or feeling down. The life I have now where I’m happy and functional is due to hard work, dedication, using the tools WWP provided me and doing the work it takes, AND ART.”