The
Perpetrator Series
This
work is an ongoing study on the role of trauma in distorting human
identity and relationships, and in creating denial states which
lead to profoundly self-destructive behaviors. Trauma is a term
used to describe destructive experiences which exceed the human
capacity to cope. While traumatic events caused by natural catastrophes,
such as hurricanes or earthquakes, can cause long lasting effects,
trauma deliberately inflicted by other people is far more devastating.
As
human beings we are born with an expectation of trust in one another.
I use the term "perpetration" to describe all betrayals of trust,
from the largest acts of state sponsored genocide and corporate
ecocide, to the smallest unreflectively oppressive practices of
child rearing. These betrayals of trust are profoundly traumatic.
The mind doesn't know what to do with them, doesn't know what
to call them. The first reaction is disbelief.
Perpetrators
reinforce this reaction, using language to create denial of what
they are actually doing. Words like peace, justice, democracy
and equality cover up acts of destruction, bigotry and privilege.
Children are beaten and incested in the name of "father knows
best."
Perpetrators
universally warn their victims not to speak. They tell them that
nothing happened, or that it was "not so bad," or that they brought
their suffering on themselves. They say no one will believe them.
"Victim" becomes a dirty word, full of shame, while the perpetrator
remains invisible.
In
my study of perpetration, I had to counteract this denial. I chose
to work with clay because of its immediate responsiveness to feelings
that my hands knew to be true, even when my mind was not so sure.
The main clay body I use, cassius basaltic, is a warm brown.
After
it goes through the fire, this clay becomes black, emblematic
of all victims of perpetration. I include among these not only
people whose skin is rich in melanin, but also the feminine, with
its dark receptivity, and the earth, whose dark soil germinates
the seeds that support all life, and whose beauty and life sustaining
capacity have been so cruelly violated.
The
clay does not pass through the fire intact, but is often wounded,
acquiring cracks from the violence of the heat, just as I have,
even in deep, vital areas, in places both visible and hidden.
The cracks reveal a depth of suffering that many do not want to
see. The perpetrator has convinced us that wounds are an embarrassment,
to be covered up, denied. I believe we must bear witness to our
own and one another's suffering.
My
work focuses on the face of the victim, the hand of the perpetrator.
There is no blaming the victim here. I hope that people seeing
this exhibit will themselves take the risk of knowing and naming
their own experiences of betrayal, believing in the deep reality
of suffering, and will see through the denial that is the true
oppression.
