Marine veteran creates 300 ceramic cups to spark war conversations

Ehren Tool, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and ceramic artist, spent two weeks this summer at the Elmhurst Art Museum crafting stoneware cups. The project aimed to start conversations about the human impact of war, grief, and suffering. Tool, who is on staff in the ceramics lab at the Department of Art Practice at University of California, Berkeley, usually works alone in his basement. He creates cups and mails them to strangers he has never met.

During his residency at the museum, Tool produced 300 new cups, bringing his total output to more than 27,000. The environment differed from his usual solitary routine. Tool noted that he appreciated the presence of visitors. He observed children running outside while museum attendees inside engaged in discussions about war while watching him work. Tool said, "It is not me, it is somebody else who sees something in the cups and it resonates with them. That is what makes it more than just a cup."

Tool identifies as an "object maker" whose work is held in national museums. However, he values when his pieces find private homes. He joked that he has 500,000 to 1 million years to find a receptive audience. Tool has been profiled on the PBS show "Craft in America" and featured in the New York Times. He recalled a Vietnam veteran who passed away, with family members distributing his cups at the funeral. Tool said, "That person is gone now, but the cup was a connection. That is much cooler than being in a museum."

Tool meets with veterans groups and individual service members to value the connections made. He believes many artists underestimate the importance of the audience. Tool said, "I make the cups for myself also, but it is nice to be able share stories with folks." He described the stories of war as difficult to hear but necessary to share. He stated, "War is murder and military sexual trauma is rape and that happens in the civilian world, too, and there is no place to really talk about it. The cups become a place where it is OK to begin to talk about stuff like that."

Tool served in the Gulf War from 1989 to 1994. He later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Southern California and a Master of Fine Arts from UC Berkeley in 2005. He views the creation of cups as a way to build an abstract community. He said, "Community is the best for depression, anxiety and addiction. Community is the big fix." Tool noted that modern culture often isolates people, even in public spaces. He added, "if you want to thank me for my service, work for peace."

Tool’s work is currently on display as part of "A Revolution of Values." This exhibition is part of the "Resisting the Long War" series at the Elmhurst Art Museum. The exhibit runs through Jan. 3.