artist statement

underneath

Aside from painting, I have devoted an inordinate amount of time towards peer education about sexual assault. It is one way to educate people and break the silence around this particularly sensitive issue. With each passing year, I can truly say that I have made a difference. Knowing this makes the investment of time and energy worthwhile and motivates me to continue working for this cause. However, many times it is very discouraging to speak with people who have been misled as to what sexual assault is and how it effects a survivor for many years after the fact. The struggle, and soul searching that a survivor must go through is sometimes overlooked. It slowly occurred to me that I can tap into another resource; my paintings. I am painting about a truth. A truth about life that most people ignore. I find it very important to bring these issues to light.

Through this medium, which leads itself to emotive expression, I can reach a person in ways that I simply can't, using statistics or stories. In my latest series, the paintings are a metaphor for a woman who is recovering from a sexual assault. I am trying to convey the anger, the rage, the forlorn loneliness experienced by an assault victim. Heaviness weighs on her unsteady, barefoot and vulnerable feet. The nightgown hints of the nature of the assault, while the leaves surrounding her symbolize change. She seems to be self-consumed as she looks down at herself. The viewer is confronted with an image of this woman, but not in its entirety. Only her feet are shown, a mere sampling, that quietly conveys what kind of emotions this woman might be having, while the stylistic element of the contrasting, layered color tones of flesh in some of the paintings, signify the discomfort and tension she is experiencing. The dramatic perspective of these paintings invite the viewer to enter into the woman's world. How exactly is this woman feeling? Perhaps she is tormented, melancholy, unsure of herself or depressed. Is her self-confidence lost? In some paintings the ground is blurry. Is she crying? Is life a blur? What kind of implications does an irrevocable event such asexual assault have on a woman? How is she going to gain her balance and keep moving forward? How will she cope? These are all things to think about. I am depicting a scene that could have happened directly after this horrific event or even years later. Time is not an issue. The issue is understanding the complexity of emotional burdens. The paintings invite you to do just that.

note: This abstract refers to images 12 to 16. It does not refer to all 18 images.