Nameless

Artist Statement:

For me, art is a powerful way to express unsaid words; the things we cannot say. My painting Nameless shows the ramifications of a policy designed to break the spirit of innocent women and force them to do things that they would otherwise find unimaginable.

Nameless is a depiction of a crime against women, the all-too-common victims of war, which is embedded in the history of Australia.

All the refugees have been detained in Nauru indefinitely. There is no way to leave, to reach freedom. Abortions are illegal in Nauru and the Australian government only permits the transfer of women to Australia for an abortion after five months into a woman’s pregnancy.

It breaks my heart and as I paint, I wonder what the women are forced to do to themselves, and their babies, who will be forever remain “Nameless,” in order to reach freedom. I pause, and wonder if the Australian government is knowingly sacrificing all these babies. The government views them mercilessly as collateral damage to suit their unapologetic strategy of dehumanization. The men and women in power making these decisions are in control of the women’s bodies.

My painting is a culmination of my feelings about this crime. The woman is a broken woman. She is walking toward Australia. The baby inside her is scared, curled up in the fetal position and crying. I feel that the nameless baby does not like this dirty world. A monster’s profile is in front of the womb carrying the baby as though it is going to swallow it. The monster is the Australian government, a symbol I use in many of my paintings. The monster’s teeth extend into the woman’s hair – she has been infected by the monster and her mind has been poisoned. Her actions are the result of this infection. I cannot judge her. I cannot blame her. But l wish she could be given the antidote to the monster’s venomous bite.

I paint red blood to depict the death of the baby who is bleeding into the background of the canvas. Nameless is born. The second trimester of the abortion takes place.