Artist Statement:

This is for the women who have been left alone after, the women who didn't quite understand what happened until later, the women who did not know how to make it stop because they were scared. The women who were too young to say anything, the women that physically could not fight back, the women taken advantage of, drugged, tricked and manipulated.

This is our proof. This is for the version of ourselves left behind in the sheets. For every woman who can see herself within these stains.

Objective Statement: Each of these bed sheets is the imprinting and tangible proof of a woman's rape and assault. Each silhouette is a woman in the position she found herself afterward. Each woman is a part of every component and process of this creation. Together we create our proof and lay out our bodies retelling our stories. 

The Bed sheets used are thrifted, found, or the bed sheets the woman found herself in. I specifically use sheets that have been used. They have a history and a life of their own before this project. Together, the women and I choose sheets that they feel connected to. We lay the chemicals onto the sheets together, playing music and creating a comfortable and calm environment. 

I have chosen the cyanotype process because the chemical leaves a deep, blue stain, much like a bruise, on any natural fabric. The deep blue staining is now attached to the fabric for the rest of its lifetime. No matter how hard one may scrub or wash these sheets, the stains will never rinse out. The sheets are the woman. These bruises and stains, even when not on the surface, will live within us for the rest of our lives.  

When exposing the sheet and the woman's body to light, I asked each woman if they would like to talk about her experiences or if they would like to use this time to reflect. In these conversations, we find our common experiences and share our anger and sadness and our growth, while light begins to create her silhouette onto the fabric. 

I never document these moments, I never record their stories, instead, I allow the moment to be two women sitting in the sun talking. To just live in an intimate moment without any performance for anybody. I want the women to feel heard, understood, and loved, and I thank them full-heartedly for their time and vulnerability and most importantly their trust. 

What I find most intriguing is that after we wash and dry the sheets together. There are details of their stories that can be found with each silhouette. Pieces of their personality and what happened to them are hidden in the details. Details that only I, she, and other women with similar understandings can find in those details. 

Together we wash out chemicals, allowing just what the light did not expose to be left. It is a healing moment, to wash away hurt and pain and to remove a piece of yourself. To be able to hold a tangible proof of something that until that moment we only had our words as proof. 

I am creating these pieces with their trust; they are trusting me with their bodies, their stories, and their vulnerability, and I do not take that lightly. I care about these sheets and these women more than I can ever fully be able to express. 

Yes, this project is for us. For us to create our proof, for us to heal. However, it is also for the women that you can see our stains and recognize their bruises within them. 

The purpose of the sheets for viewers is for others to ask themselves what they have done to make these areas safer for women. For men to question their actions and respect towards women. To wonder why these sheets exist in the first place. They are meant to be confrontational for one group of people, to help the other feel seen and understood. 

Unfortunately, I will never, ever, run out of sheets to make. There will always be more sheets, more silhouettes, more women, and more stories. The purpose of this is to heal, to make connections, build a community, and to confront the world on what they are doing to stop harm to women.