In My Body In My Bones

2019 I used to whisper violent words to my scars, I wonder if they listened, I wonder if they believed me. In my body, in my bones is an installation that discusses the violent ways I have treated my body in an attempt at constructing safety from others, and how to heal from these violences. Each element–sculpture, text, performance, sound, and aromatherapy– incorporated into the installation melds both violence and healing, allowing for the amalgamation of the pieces to bear the weight of my visible and invisible scars. The installation acts as a space to heal, not a space that is already healed. A place that is honest and vulnerable with the ways I have been violent with my body, and how to allow that violence to be known and voiced without being empowered and honored as I have made it be for the past two years. It is a space that has been constructed through the acknowledgment of my self-harm and through the understanding that I can’t construct safety from others but I can construct a home within my bones; where I can love and care for this body that even after all the violence, continues to survive. 200 lb wax candle, 5'7" latex panel with text, aromatherapy, 8' latex panel with 30 min endurance performance projection