'Peace Maker', 2014

Large-scale textile artwork by Susan Stockwell, 2014.

The artwork is in the form of a flag. It was made in response to the National Army Museum's 'Piece Makers' project from 2012 to 2014. Individual pieces for it were made in collaboration with veterans and soldiers at Tedworth House, Stoll (Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation) and the National Army Museum. They had served in the British Army of the Rhine, Northern Ireland and the Falklands as well as the more recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the centre of the work is a screen print by the veteran Michael Crossan, who served with 1st Battalion Royal Highland Fusiliers in Berlin and the UK from 1985 to 1988. It shows silhouettes of soldiers from World War One marching and standing by a grave. The soldier standing by a grave draws on photograph Q 2756 in the Imperial War Museum collection, taken near Pilckem during the Third Battle of Ypres by Lieutenant Ernest Brooks. The marching men draw on images such as Q 2978, also by Brooks.

The central panel is surrounded by dark grey and white swatches, representing a chess board and the game of war. Many of the swatches are hand embroidered with quotes from the soldiers who took part in the workshops, as well as other relevant quotes, poems and words. The reverse side of the work is an evocative silk flag in Army colours, simply containing the word Peace.