Advocacy
Turn our suffering into art, art into awareness, and awareness into action.
Gabrielle Roth
CONTENT WARNINGThe following images include traumatic, complex and challenging themes. They also offer hope, strength, resilience, courage and healing. Please be mindful of your wellbeing if you choose to view these images.10 things we wanted to say
196.7 x 152.4 cmAcrylic on canvas triptychPhotography by Noa Smith Fletcher
Driven by a deeply complex and fragmented inner world, this painting expresses pleas for help that have been silenced for over 30 years. Shining light on a topic that people prefer to avoid, this is a reclaiming of the word 'love' that was misused and abused during childhood. The hidden phrase 'love is kind' is a call for awareness and kind consideration of how we treat our loved ones, particularly children. It is through a truly loving, respectful and safe relationship with my now wife, where I am experiencing healing. Slowly, tenderly, with curiosity, allowing the hidden and silenced parts to have a voice.
At least 1 in 4 (28.5%) Australians aged 16 and above have experienced child sexual abuse (Mathews, Pacella, Scott, et al., 2023). Let's stop the silent pandemic that torments, injures and disables so many. Enough is enough.
Mathews, B., Pacella, R.E., Scott, J.G., Finkelhor, D., Meinck, F., Higgins, D.J., Erskine, H.E., Thomas, H.J., Lawrence, D., Haslam, D.M., Malacova, E., Dunne, M.P. (2023). The prevalence of child maltreatment in Australia: Findings from a national survey. Medical Journal of Australia, 218 (6 Suppl.), S13-S18. doi: 10.5694.mja2.51873.
Making Room
50 x 50cm
Digital collage of water-soluble graphite drawings and acrylic painting printed on cotton voile fabric.
Emotional avoidance is both productive and destructive. It allows us to function, be productive, maintain the momentum. Yet it also splinters, fractures, fragments, and alienates.
Whilst seeking refuge, safety and containment in a psychiatric hospital, I find the courage to take a peek at the feelings beneath the mask.
The parts too raw to express.
Allowing space for them,
Allowing space for the chaos within.
There are moments where the desire to numb lessens its grip. Slowly strengthening my tolerance. Edging my way closer to authenticity, away from the silencing social stigma and my suffocating shame.
44% of Australians (aged 16-85) have or will experience mental ill-health across our lifetime (1). Research shows that approximately 90% of people accessing public mental health services have experienced one or more incidents of trauma (2).
(1) https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health