Silenced is for all of you who have been mentally, emotionally or physically abused and are forced to stay silent out of fear, disbelief, loss of reputation, the pain it may cause others, danger, shame, anger, not wanting pity, lack of being believed, smear campaigns, embarrassment, the difficulty in describing the severity of trauma, not wanting to become the abuser, refusing to further feed the beast, worry about being minimised or judged, not wanting to relive the details. Especially when you are already feeling vulnerable, betrayed and wounded. And so we suffer in silence while the abuser is free to abuse again and again and again.
I wanted this image to resemble a painting because abusers are often incapable of seeing their victims in 3D, lacking the empathy that gives people substance and validity. By painting her mouth closed she is drained of colour and dimension.
Silenced is a self-portrait photograph overlaid on an image of paint strokes. The painting like effect was entirely created using Photoshop brushes and filters.