Napalm Sunburn, MelissaxOfficinaliss

“This piece reimagines Vietnam War-era imagery through the visual language of 1970s album art, creating a provocative juxtaposition between period aesthetics and historical trauma. The composite layers soldiers in combat gear, explosive warfare, and a vintage television displaying military footage—all unified by the album title’s deliberately jarring wordplay. The retro typography and warm, saturated color palette evoke the counterculture design movements that defined the decade, while the subject matter confronts the viewer with the stark realities those same movements protested against.

The work explores themes of media consumption and collective memory, examining how we process historical events through the filter of popular culture. The television set becomes a symbol of distance—Americans watching war unfold from their living rooms—while the layered transparency of the figures suggests the fragmented, overlapping nature of how we remember and mythologize conflict.

Created for Sonya Shannon’s Spring 2025 Intro to Photoshop course, this project challenged me to master complex technical skills including layer masking, blend modes, and photomontage composition. The process of sourcing archival imagery and seamlessly integrating disparate elements deepened my understanding of how digital tools can construct meaning through visual association. Working within Adobe Creative Suite expanded not only my technical capabilities but also my conceptual approach to how historical imagery can be recontextualized to create contemporary commentary on war, media, and memory.”