Bear Witness / to all that you have survived

“Bear Witness / to all that you have survived” was created in response to the news headlines in late January of 2026. As a survivor of child sexual abuse, it is difficult to read articles regarding immigrant children held in detention centers, and the overwhelming amount of information regarding the predators in the Epstein Files involved in child sex trafficking without prosecution in the United States. Americans often espouse the safety of children as a number one priority. It is beginning to feel like an empty platitude. Who are we as a collective if we are allowing children to suffer abuse and neglect behind the closed doors of detention centers? To turn a blind eye to the extent of child sex trafficking, details regarding the predators involved in the Epstein Files and what the victims experienced?

All of this has led me to reflect on how trauma exists within our bodies. When a child experiences abuse or neglect, the horror doesn’t stop when the violence ends. It continues to be a part of us in some way, both in mind and body. With my self-portraits, one for the past and the present, surrounded by assemblage that uses symbols both personal and universal, I hope to evoke the feeling of living within such a body, during the abuse and as an adult survivor.

To those who have never experienced child abuse or neglect, I ask you to bear witness.

To those who have, I hope you will allow yourself a moment to recognize your resilience, strength and bravery, to acknowledge all that your past self has survived to make it here to this very moment. And know you are seen and not alone.