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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. An art exhibit opening Oct. 3 features art from survivors of domestic violence from around the country.
Carved words curve along a ceramic swan’s wings, laid along the birds’ bodies like layered feathers.
But the words aren’t from Elizabeth Foley, the artist who sculpted them. They come from interviews she’s done with survivors of domestic violence, opening up about experiences in abusive relationships. As she interviews survivors, they paint their own works.
Now, Foley’s ceramic swans and the survivors’ paintings are coming to Eugene with “Rebirth: Art by Survivors of Domestic Violence” at Radiant Community Arts, the second stop for the touring exhibit after Yadkinville, North Carolina. (Foley is based in Asheville, North Carolina, but studied ceramics at the University of Oregon.)
It is a collaborative exhibit with work from survivors of domestic violence from around the country. The Yadkin Cultural Arts Center pitched Foley on a solo show of her swans, but she instead asked if they would be interested in a group exhibit.
Foley said the swans, which she calls her “Finding Wings” series, are a full-circle moment for her. It was reading stories from survivors of domestic violence, and specifically intimate partner violence, that helped her realize that she had been in an abusive relationship. Working on the swans is an emotional process.
“It brings up things for me over and over again,” she said. “There’s those moments that I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I remember that happening,’ and sometimes I’ve forgotten. Every time I’m doing it, it’s just another chance for me to heal a little more, express a little more.”
Art helps survivors process their stories
The gallery exhibit is also in partnership with the Hope & Safety Alliance, which provides shelter and services for abused women and their children in Lane County.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and the “Rebirth” exhibition is just one art-themed event from the alliance’s month of programming, in addition to a community art project of poetry, paintings and drawings at Springfield City Hall.
“What I’ve noticed from just working with a lot of survivors of domestic violence is, regardless of what way you’re able to express it, everybody craves to tell their story,” said Cassondra Nielsen, the development and events coordinator for the Hope & Safety Alliance.
For Sage Adderley, an artist from Centralia, Washington, and a friend of Foley’s, that expression looked like a painting of a pomegranate. Beneath that pomegranate, though, are layers and layers of harsh, angry paint in dark colors.
Adderley said that her interview experience with Foley delved into some dark places, as her domestic violence experience was particularly violent. But as she kept going, she felt lighter. Her painting started as a shield, like most of Foley’s interviewees depict, but she found herself painting small seeds inside without a specific aim.
“The pomegranate revealed to me, underneath all of this are mucky layers that you don’t really want to share, that nobody probably really wants to see or would even understand,” she said. “But at the end of this process, there’s something beautiful. I look at it and I don’t think of my abuse. I think of what’s possible, and what gets to come next for me.”
How to see ‘Rebirth: Art by Survivors of Domestic Violence’
The exhibit will be in Eugene from Friday, Oct. 3, through Nov. 22. It’s on display at Eugene’s Radiant Community Arts, 110 E 11th Ave., Suite C. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
An opening reception will take place on Oct. 3 during the First Friday Art Walk, featuring artist talks, resource sharing from the Hope & Safety Alliance and the chance to meet participating artists like Adderley, who is traveling to Eugene from Washington state.
Saturday, Oct. 4 also features two different events to accompany the exhibit. The first, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, is the Red Thread Circle, a free gathering specifically for survivors of domestic violence to have a space to connect.
The second, from 2 to 4 p.m., is the Becoming Your Own Beloved workshop, a $47 workshop led by Foley, who will lead participants in “exploring self-compassion and healing through creative practice.”
