A Quiet Defiance III

A Quiet Defience is a triptych that forms part of my ongoing body of work exploring the effects of gender-based violence on my personhood and how I navigate this reality. It reflects on the quiet moments I grapple with when no one is looking and emotions that live within me, which often go

unseen. While gender-based violence is a widespread social crisis, this work turns inward to capture the profound loneliness that accompanies surviving sexual violence, especially as someone who has broken their silence publicly.

Through self-portraiture and the recurring presence of a frame, each piece reflects the emotional tension of moving through trauma. My gradual emergence from the frame mirrors my journey, one of pushing against boundaries, both imposed and internal, as I search for language and space to express what survival looks like for me. This work resists stigma and offers a personal account of survival, where vulnerability and power often exist side by side. It is a visual attempt to shape and understand my traum, instead of the other way around, and to represent myself in ways that feel true to my experience.