These photographic scans represent and capture the physical, emotional, mental and impacts of the changes that being a victim of sexual assault brought to my life.
I created this art because this incident was not easy to digest. Initially, I created this work of art to face my past, to try to understand that this incident exists within the past, rather than the ways that trauma can leave a victim feeling as if the violence is still occurring. I have created this artwork to allow others to view the ways of which one persons actions can ripple through another life.
The aim of the final state of these photographs is to mark the growth and transformation from all the negative ways this incident rippled throughout my life. These photographs were made to document the ways this artistic healing process has furthered my growth and allowed me to adapt my views in order to survive.
Facing all the negative from this assault has allowed me to transform an incident that was beyond my control and create a subliminally beautiful work of art. This speaks to my ways of healing, much like the representation within the scans of plants, I have seen decay, and detachment, but from that I have also seen growth and survival. Any person enduring trauma has to adapt to survive. I couldn’t prevent this sexual assault from happening in my life, and by presenting this I am not looking for sympathy. I am looking to help start a shift from all the negative means of this incident, to some sort of a positive end where I can find my voice. The most positive thing I can ever do with my life is create art. I felt by taking such a negative incident and turning it into a work of art, I have taken control and shifted my focus to creation, growth, expression and transformation I have gone through to be at this point within my healing process.