A R T I S T S T A T E M E N T
Over 70% of young women have experienced a form of sexual harassment or assault during their lifetimes and their violation often goes unreported at their own expense. By definition, trauma is considered the wounding of either or both the body and psyche- arguably women often silently contend with both. There is an exorbitant amount of labor in recovering from trauma. This is unseen labor required to first emotionally then intellectually process its effects. This process is not a clean and ordered one and often requires years to resolve, if ever.
I use the body as a foundation for measuring the repercussions of trauma and intellectual exploration of its residual effects. The calculations I use, such as weight, length, and time passage, connect the internal monologue to physical actions or more specifically, how that inner negotiation of our traumas dictate our outward behavior. It is important to me that it is known that I am not interested in re-performing traumatic events nor exploiting victimhood.
This exploration of the emotional body is performed from a singular [the artist = subject’s] perspective. Viewing of the work, however, suggests complex social power dynamics between subject and viewer. The viewer’s level of involvement with the work requires them to learn the rules of engagement and to what extent they choose to be involved. Power lies in the tenuous relationship of giving and receiving (or performing and watching). All in all, the viewer becomes an essential part of the work by either choosing to engage with or ignore the subject, thus making each subject-viewer interaction an examination of social politics.
