BRAINSTORM is the second memorial I have crafted commemorating the Iraq/Afghan wars.

May 1st of 2009 I lost a very dear friend, and a good kind human being - Sergeant Voldemars Ansevics of the Latvian armed forces. Voldemars was fighting alongside American soldiers in Afghanistan, when he was blown to kingdom-come in the bleak mountains of Kumar province. His widow and two children received back only bits & pieces of what remained of the man they had loved.

I also visited Walter Reed hospital in D.C. that summer. I had gone to thank the young soldiers for their sacrifice. And I found out I did not have the courage to approach them as they sat in their wheelchairs - missing their arms & legs, All I could think of was �They are just babies� My God, they're just babies�� So I made a sculpture the size of an infant that I could cradle in my arms.

The title BRAINSTORM derives from the type of brain damage that occurs from roadside bombs: IED's - improvised explosive devices.