In unit 3 of Rhetoric, my class looked at the start of colonies in the new world called America. We looked at the conflicts that started from, the French and British and the conflicts made from the Sons of Liberty and what they stood for. For the action project, we had to find a social issue, and create an artwork that would be a great way to represent it using any kind of medium. The purpose was to inspire people from all over the world to unite (like some of the early American colonists). I chose to make an artistic statement about the issue of domestic violence because I wanted to learn more about the topic. The art medium I chose was a drawing with just a pencil and a piece of paper for the reason that drawing is so simple, but also can be complex in the way you make it. Please enjoy the drawing and what it holds.
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| NVA "Keeping an Eye on People" (2015) GCE Labs School |
What is domestic violence? It is when the person you trust most starts abusing you or a loved one, in the place where you should feel most safe. This issue is very well known to many people, but also not as well known as it should be. What I mean by that is, people know about it - either they have experienced it or they have heard about it. So why is it that so many people aren’t doing something about it? And, why have we actually gotten used to the fact that it happens? Most of the time, people don’t want to interfere because they think it’s none of their business, but should we actually let this happen? I say no - just because it might not be our business, I don’t think that we should continue to stand by and let this keep happening.
In 2 out of 3 female homicide cases, the woman was killed as a result of domestic violence (Safe Horizon: General facts). The only way this can stop growing is when we decide to act on the inside of what is actually happening. But domestic violence isn’t only bad to the person being hit; children who witness these events happening are also changed in some way mentally, and may be victims of abuse as well. Maybe they are experiencing domestic violence first hand, and they repeat the cycle with other people when they grow up. These young victims are seeing bullying happening first hand and they don’t know what they should do, 3 million children see domestic violence every year in their homes (Safe Horizon: Effects on Children). We shouldn’t let that happen at all. But why? Why care? Say you saw someone getting hit on the street by someone, would you help or walk away? Or say you saw your child getting bullied, would you do something?
I think of domestic violence as bullying and it makes it just so much worse when it is coming from someone you love. 1 in 4 women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime. I am saying for that to stop now and make that number 0 in 4 women, or even men, who do actually get the other side of the bullying (Safe Horizon: Occurrence of Violence).
The reason I chose to sound off on the topic of domestic violence isn’t because I have experienced it or because I needed to talk about something I have experienced. I felt like it was very important to me to pick an issues that I don’t experience with, just so I have more knowledge on it, and have a larger standpoint on the subject. I also feel like then I might have the power to help people or just teach people about domestic violence, as I am doing with my art. I just feel it is important to learn about more issues that don’t fully apply to you, so you can have an understanding and connect more to these issues.
The medium I chose was a drawing because of saying, “A picture carries a thousand words.” , Well I believe a drawing carries a million words because the more emotion a drawing can have more an emotional impact. I also chose to draw, just for the fact that it is the easiest art form for me and i feel that I can clearly get my ideas across in this artistic form.
I drew person’s eye up close because eyes are the window to the soul and domestic violence victims are not only physically hurt, but also spiritually. I drew a tear to show the sadness that is carried when this violence is happening to them. In the eye, you see a reflection of a fist facing towards the victim. To show the realness of how it is for people that experience the abuse they get. Next, on the fist of the person you see the word saying “STOP”because I want this abuse to stop and so does everyone who gets physically and spiritually abused by a loved one. Lastly, I didn’t add any color to my drawing just because I feel like the colors would actually take away from the emotions that I want to represent, such as truth and sadness. I like that this amazing drawing with so much emotion and truth, can really just be made with a pencil and some strong feeling to get a message across.
I would want my artwork to be displayed everywhere - mainly on the internet so it can travel faster, but anywhere where it could make a difference would be great.
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