Anon 012
Participatory Portrait
She was
the problem
She was 15 when she spoke up about what had happened to her — and somehow became the problem for doing so.
She was 15, just two weeks away from her 16th birthday, when she was sexually assaulted.
She reported what had happened. But instead of feeling protected, she found herself carrying many of the consequences.
She missed school to attend police meetings and was then refused permission to attend her prom because of those absences. The boy she had reported was still allowed to go.
She also had to sit each of her GCSE exams in the same room as him.
Now 19, she works in a nursery and loves reading and writing poetry. She lives with Asperger’s syndrome, Marfan syndrome, depression and anxiety, and told me she has been struggling to remember who she is.
She described feeling judged, misunderstood and suppressed.
For the altered portrait, I painted over almost everything, leaving only a small section of her face visible. I wanted the image to feel restrictive and uncomfortable: a young woman who spoke up, yet was left with less space to move through the world.
Sometimes speaking up does not immediately bring protection. Sometimes the person asking to be heard is the one who ends up treated as the problem.
THE DESTRUCTION
Boxed In
About the Work
2026
Acrylic on canvas
Most of the portrait has been covered in dark paint, leaving only a small rectangular opening around her face. The intervention reflects the way she was made to feel judged, suppressed and boxed in after reporting what had happened to her.