H.C. Westermann (1922–1981) was an American sculptor and printmaker known for precisely crafted wood and mixed-media sculptures that combine dark humor, personal experience and social commentary. Born in Los Angeles, Westermann served as a Marine during World War II, witnessing devastating naval combat. After the war, he toured Asia as an acrobat with the USO and studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He interrupted his studies to reenlist in the Marines during the Korean War before completing his degree in 1954. His experiences of war profoundly shaped his art, particularly his recurring “Death Ship” sculptures and images of destruction, isolation and mortality. A skilled carpenter and woodworker, Westermann constructed sculptures with exceptional precision, combining traditional craftsmanship with unconventional materials and imagery drawn from ships, houses, coffins, cartoons and popular culture. Although associated with Chicago’s postwar art community, his idiosyncratic work resisted identification with a single movement. Its combination of vernacular imagery, craftsmanship, humor and irreverence influenced subsequent generations of artists, including those associated with Chicago Imagism and West Coast Funk.