Untold is a series of installations that explores the traumatic experiences of sexual abuse, domestic and state violence and the courageous act of narrating them. Features painted kitchen knives combined with mixed media painting displayed in various scales. The kitchen knife, a domestic yet lethal tool, is chosen for its dual function and the frequency of its usage at home. The portrait paintings on the blades depict the female gaze looking at the audience to tell their stories and share their traumatic experiences of abuse. Their stories are painful, sharp, and cut. Their gaze is powerful, incisive and bold. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

Sexual abuse violates one of the most beautiful and fulfilling acts of intimacy between people. It corrupts it into a form of brutality from which some never recover, and no one remains the same. It takes courage and resilience to share the stories of sexual trauma and also to listen to them since they are often triggering and retraumatizing.

As a survivor of sexual abuse with these series, I attempt to translate our trauma into a new form of expression.

The series includes five mixed-media artworks in total. I’ve used alcohol paint on the knives, and the paintings on the boxes are with acrylic paints. The knives and the boxes are found objects. In the series, I’ve given a new purpose to these found objects as these women who are subjects of these series and are narrating their stories have found a new purpose in life.