I’m hosting a panel discussion about sexual assault next Monday April 25th at 4pm at @ablebakercontemporary in Portland, Maine.
Please join us for an informative conversation about sexual assault education prevention, criminal justice surrounding domestic sexual violence and the long lasting effects of sexual trauma.
I’m honored to have on the panel:
Andrew Shepard, Director of Education and Community Engagement at SARSSM
Rook Hine, SARSSM SART Advocate
Kim Simmons, USM Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Rachel Casey, USM Assistant Professor of School of Social Work
Shaun Johnson, Regional Coordinator of SANE program at UNE
I’m gonna try this again
I’m excited to announce @ablebakercontemporary will be showing my new body of work One Night in February!
17 years ago I was raped by a man when I was 21 years old. Immediately told myself I would not be defined by this and that I will not be affected by this. But you can’t hide from trauma, it’s always with you.
One Night in February, is a multi-medium body of work about the sexual assault I endured. Each piece I made is a sounding board for my voice and for the countless other victims who have suffered from sexual assault. There is a tremendous amount of shame that comes from being a sexual assault victim but the more you talk about and share your trauma, the more distance you can have from it. The statistics for rape are astounding. For 100 women that suffered sexual violence in their lifetimes, 14% had experienced attempted rape and 2.3% had experienced rape. A national survey from the CDC indicates 1 in every 5 women (and 1 in 71 men) will be raped during their lifetime at some point.
This body of work is essentially a very public healing for me that I hope brings the much needed societal awareness of sexual assault. My hope is that this body of work educates our community about the trauma and long term mental and emotional effects sexual violence has on people and that the shame is redirected from the survivor to the prepertrator which hopefully prevents future acts of sexual violence against someone. We as a society need to talk more about sexual violence instead of silencing it and hiding it. Sharing this body of work is one way of confronting the sexual violence pandemic we have been living in for centuries.
Just want to say thank you to @ablebakercontemporary and @tessagreeneobrien for being the only one to take a huge risk by presenting this work to the public. Tessa you’re amazing and I can’t thank you enough.
@christinemitchelladams and @chalicemitchell for collaborating with me on this and helping me create my vision.
And @ellisbeauregardfoundation for giving me the space and time to create this body of work.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the opening March 31st 5pm-7pm. ❤️
Mother Number 1
From Hidden Mother series
I, like many people, am many things. I am an artist; a woman, a daughter, a sister; and more recently a mother. My two young children have pushed me to see myself as a mother first, but it has come at a cost. I feel invisible in my own life. Invisible to my family, but most of all invisible to myself. I am a mother, slowly slipping away from who I really am. All of this has only been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, as I am now spending more time than ever devoting myself to my children.
To express this feeling of invisibility, I took photos exploring Hidden Mother Photography, a style of photographs common in the Victorian era, in which young children were photographed with their mothers present, but hidden within the photograph. Hidden under a sheet or blanket, I become a structure, present only for stability and support, entirely devoted to the needs of my others.
#eyemamaproject #conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
Mother Number 4
From Hidden Mother series
I, like many people, am many things. I am an artist; a woman, a daughter, a sister; and more recently a mother. My two young children have pushed me to see myself as a mother first, but it has come at a cost. I feel invisible in my own life. Invisible to my family, but most of all invisible to myself. I am a mother, slowly slipping away from who I really am. All of this has only been exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, as I am now spending more time than ever devoting myself to my children.
To express this feeling of invisibility, I took photos exploring Hidden Mother Photography, a style of photographs common in the Victorian era, in which young children were photographed with their mothers present, but hidden within the photograph. Hidden under a sheet or blanket, I become a structure, present only for stability and support, entirely devoted to the needs of my others.
#eyemamaproject #conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
Longevity Noodles, China April 24, 2017
Birthday Series
#conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
Pavlova, New Zealand April 24, 2004
Birthday Series
#conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
Fairy Bread, Australia April 24, 2012
Birthday Series
#conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
Prinjolata, Malta April 24, 2007
Birthday Series
#conceptualart #conceptualphotography #fineartphotography #4x5 #4x5film #4x5photography #performanceart
