By Emma Foss
Champan University

Within the pieces I created, I wanted to stray from the traditional sense of self-portraiture and alter the images to the point where they are no longer me, or about me, but represent the struggle of domestic violence that occurs too regularly in our society. I used myself as a subject because I wanted it to be a personalized reflection: What if it were occurring to me? This issue of domestic violence occurring has been something I have been talking about a lot recently, and I wanted to create a piece of work based upon what I’ve heard about the scenarios women are often caught in and my personal interpretation of the feelings hearing about this creates. I was inspired by the work of Jenny Saville and her remarkably revealing portraiture but I wanted to create a sort of digital painting by employing masks like layers of paint.

I intentionally attempted to sexualize this painting from its original state by emphasizing the lips and eyes and by the general stance of the person within the picture. This is because women are often seen as sexualized objects that can be manipulated without them realizing it. The woman in this image looks beaten and worn down to reference the struggle, both externally and internally that she goes through. I also wanted to create an image that is visually appealing and colorful to be the exact opposite of the metaphorical meaning. I tried to deviate as much as possible from the realm of the literal to create a series of work that represents domestic violence in a unique way.