Journeys in my head: 21st state

This is a series of etchings which take the viewer on a journey into the head of the artist through the visual disintegration of his self-portrait. It offers a disturbing and intimate insight into the legacies of one individual’s service in the Vietnam War.
Trevor Lyons (1945–1990) volunteered for National Service in 1965 and saw service in South Vietnam as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. It was while Lyons was serving in Vietnam that an exploding anti-personnel mine left him with severe facial and eye injuries, for which he had to undergo major reconstructive surgery. He was just 45 when he died of leukaemia.