SAA Art Showcase

These are two pieces of a collection of Instances I wrote following my sexual assault that happened during my freshman year of college. During this time, it was how I found a way to cope. My love for art and creative expression became the only way I could work through the turmoil, pain, and shame of what I was feeling following my assault. Sweaty Bed Sheets was my first piece, it points to my college dorm room bed where the occurrence took place. I often found myself experiencing nightmares or feeling unsafe under my own covers. Sins and Suds depict the shower following my assault. The idea of scrubbing myself until I was clean again was something I had struggled with for a long time. Now that art has allowed me to work through my trauma, I have been able to wear these pieces no longer in shame, but in pride. I see these as tokens of my determination to reclaim my life and myself. Now three years later the world can see my experiences on display in hopes that someone else can find strength in the hardest places.

How it was created: I started by having a small photoshoot in order to capture the images that are inspired by my written word. I then took the images into Adobe Photoshop, grey-scaled them, then resized them to 2x3 feet. After that, I took the PSD documents into Adobe InDesign in order to add my poetry to the pieces. The typeface choice was JohnDoe due to its typewriter-like quality. I choose to set the type in gold in order to show how far I have come from the situation and the value I have gained in myself since the occurrence.

These pieces were on display at The Haus Gallery in Chicago on April 27th, 2023 as part of a sexual assault awareness showcase.