I am happy, finally free, and still I ache, feeling torn apart, my insides churn and call out over too many yesterdays when they violated me, should have held me, should have empowered me

The full title of this artwork is “I am happy, finally free, and still I ache, feeling torn apart, my insides churn and call out over too many yesterdays when they violated me, should have held me, should have empowered me, instead took the words out of my mouth, silenced me, severing my psyche, I was just a child, how could they”

About the In the raw collection

In swooping, swishing,
Over, under, around,
Splish and splat,
I say what I cannot (yet)

In line, in paint, in crumple up, rip,
Rip, cut, paste, overlap, uncover, reveal …

I’m searching for something,
I’m trying, trying to name something.

You may not know what it is,
I may not yet have the words,
Together we will call it and
Call upon something raw and real,
Something magic inside
So we no longer have to feel that
Bitter taste in the mouth,
Rotten overload, without the words for it …

And in calling it by its name,
We learn how to free ourselves from it

Naming,
Calling,
Singing it out,
Dancing it out,
Doodling it out …
This is how we find the courage …

This is how we survive and then someday,
Find a way to truly live,
Raw magic, really being here …

We can and we will