The Clarinet Teacher. (oil on canvas)
Why Did You Go Back?
A survivor's story of grooming through art.
An exhibition fuelled by an artist's real lived experience of being groomed and abused as a teenager by her music teacher which encompasses paintings, written narratives and soundscapes.
Conveying subtle, progressive behavioral patterns the aim is to evoke a sense of how it actually feels to be on the receiving end of this harmful form of manipulation.
Survivor and advocate artist Helen says,
"Learning about the recognised, stepped model of grooming and that it aligned so accurately with my own experience was very empowering. It helped me process what had happened to me. I believe this knowledge could help other survivors too."
Survivor and advocate artist Helen says,As the audience moves through the immersive timeline of paintings they are taken back to school days, where perceptions of normality were never questioned. This one story is brought to light but how many other stories are left unsaid?