Anon 002
Participatory Portrait
She was
a liar
She left a relationship after experiencing violence. Instead of being believed, much of her family sided with him and questioned whether what she described had happened at all.
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Anon 002’s story was shared with me by someone hey son
After she left a violent relationship, much of her family chose his side. Her account of what had happened was challenged, minimised and reframed until she became the problem for speaking about it.
She was called crazy, a cheat, a liar, a witch. She heard “you’re making it up.”
Her son remembers watching the truth of what she had lived through become another reason to condemn her. Leaving did not simply mean escaping what had happened. It meant losing people who should have believed her too.
What remained was a woman who had tried to protect herself, but was remembered by some through the labels placed on her instead.
THE DESTRUCTION
Demonised
About the Work
2026
Acrylic on canvas
The altered portrait leans into the way Anon 002 was demonised after speaking about what she had lived through. Words including “witch,” “liar,” “crazy” and “cheat” are scrawled across her face and body, turning the accusations into something visually overwhelming.
The piece takes the “witch” accusation literally, pushing the portrait towards something darker and more monstrous to reflect the way she was made into the villain.