Still Fighting: The Art of Survival Curator’s Statement
While the #MeToo movement has refocused the attention of the mass media on the ubiquitous presence of survivors of sexual assault in society, the act of surviving sexual violence is as old as humankind. Often the act of simply surviving – carrying out daily life – is a heroic act in and of itself.
Social responses to survivors of sexual violence – denial, victim-shaming, dismissal in the name of outdated social mores – can echo the initial acts of violence and often re-traumatize survivors. This intolerable cycle must be broken. The first step is to raise our collective voices – in support of survivors, against perpetrators and the systems which allow them to perpetrate. In the words of Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, the Circuit Court judge who sentenced serial sexual abuser Larry Nassar to 175 years in prison for his crimes: “Speak out like these survivors, become part of the army.”
This exhibition gathered the work of visual artists who are also survivors in order to display how they use art to respond to life after sexual trauma. By reclaiming our narratives through visual representation, we leverage our power to bring an end to sexual violence. We create and share these works to heal, to bear witness, to find meaning, and to raise consciousness. We will no longer be silent. - Michael Ellis