Domestic Violence Exhibit

Artist: E. Grace

Synopsis: Abuse is not just physical. It appears in many different forms and happens many times. This painting is an illustration of the emotions I felt being abused verbally, mentally, emotionally and physically. Each circular portal is a different domestic violence incident I experienced. The black line drawings represent the violent act, which was then painted over with brown paint representing mud, dirt and filth. Each portal then displays how the act of violence made me feel which appears with the use of emotional colors and brush strokes. The diagram below shows the titles for each portal, which are the individual acts of violence. They are broken down by types of abuse: first row -verbal,

Artist: Heather Ray

Synopsis: None

Artist: Kelly Franz

Synopsis: This piece of artwork illustrates the world wide impact of domestic violence. Domestic violence can happen to anyone regardless of race, religion, sex, age, or gender. The pain, torture, hurt and despair of domestic violence is happening all around the world. Open your eyes!

Artist: Peggy Hutson Weston

Synopsis: “We don’t talk about those things.” Pain that is not shared grows more painful. The veil of secrecy covers secrets and the door to safety. “We never knew this was happening to you. Why didn’t you tell us?”

Nicole, a young mother, broke up with her boyfriend on the morning of Tuesday, January 28, 2003. That afternoon, the boyfriend’s mother found her dead in the home. Cause of death was trauma to the head and a lacerated liver. Known as a caring and friendly young lady who loved her family, Nicole was 19 years old.

Artist: Melissa Anchia

Synopsis: None

Artist: Peggy Hutson Weston

Synopsis: I am a deer in the headlights.

I am sacrificed for others.

I am wounded, but I am alive.

I am a survivor.

I am that I am.

Artist: Marissa Tappy

Synopsis: This piece of artwork was created through a personal experience with abuse. It documents that time in a relationship where you are in so much pain but you can’t move, you can’t scream, you can’t open your mouth to say no. You are tired, so hurt and unbelievably tormented by the knowledge you possess about abuse and the fact that you know better. I knew better.

On July 12, 2000, Sandra called police to escort her into the home she shared with her husband to retrieve her belongings. The last time she was seen, was leaving the home later that day. Authorities discovered her burned body in the remains of the home after it had caught fire. The medical examiner later determined Sandra had been strangled to death before the fire began. Her husband was arrested for the murder.

Artist: Marissa Tappy

Synopsis: This project is a simplistic view of violence in its simplest form….language

Artist: Peggy Hutson Weston

Synopsis: I became invisible.

My dreams did not matter.

“Do not die with your music still in you.”

Artist: Ted Lewis

Synopsis: I made this piece because I am tired of hearing an article of clothing referred to as a “wife-beater”. It has become a part of our vernacular, and it makes domestic violence appear to be a joke. I am asking viewers to really decide if they are “comfortable” using such language to describe a man’s undershirt.

Artist: Stacy Vann

Synopsis: None

Artist: Stacy Vann & Ted Lewis

Synopsis: This piece is used to illustrate that violence can occurs in any type of relationship, whether that is between a man and a woman, two women or two men. It also symbolizes that anyone can be an abuser regardless of gender. The idea was to take the age old saying “Boys Shouldn’t Hit Girls” and repeat it where ultimately we realize the saying should be “People Shouldn’t Hit People.”

Artist: Marissa Tappy

Synopsis: This was a fun and interesting project to show our religion and unconscious rituals engrain in our lives specific violence against women and degradation of our gender. Listed are all the names of women in the traditional bible.

Artist: Oghenekwoho Ojaide

Synopsis: This painting is about domestic violence awareness. Through articles and Internet information I read about domestic violence, I decided to be more abstract than representational. To the left of the canvas is a curtain that is down revealing a scene in a stage. The blue yarn on the piece represents a figure affected by the surrounding and the yellow symbolizes a spotlight that surrounds the figure. You can also see thin strips of thread that cover the figure. The thread represents another curtain that exposes what is going on underneath. The splatter of red paint represents another form of violence that is affecting the space the figure occupies. This painting is not directed at one form of violence but tries to translate the idea into an abstract form that should be noticed.