Feburary 25 ended in hugs among sisters, tears in eyes, and the onward movement one warehouse filled with astounding artists brought to life.
This was ArtStreet in Sacramento, California. It went on throughout the month of February 2017 in an old warehouse.
There is a light to be casted onto a dark exhibit specifically one held down a black narrow hallway. Cascaded in different places photos of women ingrained into the wood they were printed on and as the month of February went by well over 48,000 red dot stickers littered these walls.
Sarah Marie Hawkins, the artist, photographer, activist, and flommist brought moving art into the tears of so many who found themselves within this exhibit. Sacramento a community she has work in for over 6 years, and one she describes as hungry for the arts welcomed her through M5arts with a platform.
Her project Faceless No More has been dreamt in her mind for years. Coming from a place of being a sexual survivor herself, Sarah developed a space that for survivors they could see the solidarity of the thousands who placed stickers on the wall. The greater cause of this hallway was to settle the minds of those who say
“I understand”
in the face of a sexual assault victim but have never experienced it.
For those Sarah says, “No, you don’t and that is okay. I don’t want you to understand. I wish nobody did. But I just want your support.”
Faceless No More was about finally facing this issue, not only for the survivors involved but our society we are a product of. In these halls, Sarah designed a space one could not run from, flee from like we do with things we are in fear of.
Here, if someone was in front of you stopped in their tracks reading, you became the same. As the red dots were an organic symbol of support for the survivors, they also involved the viewer and if you are involved perhaps it’ll stay longer in your mind rather than being forgotten about like the sad animal commercial on television. No one person was disqualified to be involved.
The process of making this was a juxtaposition. Her aim was to take back everything. To take back their words, their experience, and their bodies. So, every ounce of the photos, the stories, was all by choice.
It’s important to point this out too: Yes, there was nudity in the photographs. Something Sarah had not done before besides for a small number of commercial pieces. In what happens to those in these situations is a vulnerability that is stolen, that is forced from you. Here, it was all by choice. That reclaimed the voice, the decision, the body, and the person themselves as they posed in strong, empowered, straight positions.
Rape and Sexual Assault by Sarah’s own words is not a side effect of drinking, it is not a side effect of wearing something provocative and the ongoing list of reasons why “we were asking for it.”
No matter what you do or say, nobody is entitled to you.
In this, there is so many things people can get from this, and what she wishes for all.
For survivors, she hopes that with every red dot, every story they see a sister or brother in arms.
To – for once – not feel alone or isolated. To realize, this is something that happened to you, it does not define you, and it is not you. No longer does anyone need to be ashamed. And lastly, we no longer should believe there is nothing we can do about this, even if we cannot convict our perpetrator, we can bring support to others facing this.
The facts are recorded from a repeated study since 1998:
· 2.8 million men have been sexually assaulted and raped
· 17.7 million women have been sexually assaulted and raped
· 1 in 6 women or girls have been either sexually assaulted, rape or an attempt has been made
· 93% of minors, 17 and under knew the preparator
· And Usually, not in every case, but almost always it is men committing the assault both on women and men.
The minority that exists are those who have not been sexually assaulted.
“I am not the sole artist of this project. There are 20 other women, artists, that made this project. And the point of Faceless is to take it further. To give it a show of its own, to take it to major cities and college campuses, and make it specific to every location. To represent that rape knows no location, and no class. That way, on a maximum level we can educate those who this has not touched.”
Faceless, a portrait by words and not of faces, isn’t a literal meaning. It’s a play on words. It is facing this issue as a survivor, as a friend, family member, therapist or supporter, as a society to no longer deny its effects, or existence.
Faceless is a movement.
—alley scheffki
Flommist Alley Scheffki is 23 years young, ‘I am the blue rose. Dies ist ein wunsch für freiheit.’ Copyright © 2017 Alley Scheffki. Fotos of Faceless No More at ArtStreet by mehallo.
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