Shut Me Up Shut Me Down

Bend Till You Break

It doesn’t matter what you do in an abusive relationship. You are treading on eggshells. You are constantly aware that you may upset him with the smallest of actions or inaction.

That burden weighs heavily on your shoulders. Every day you become smaller, weaker, fatigued and exhausted. You hate yourself for not leaving, for putting up with it.

So you bend to his violence and keep on bending... till you break.

Model: Self

Bend Till You Break

Oil on Canvas

152 x 76cm

$3000

Premonition

She knew on her wedding day that she should have run. She had a ‘feeling’, so she tried to back out, to flee the cathedral of consent.

He also had a ‘hunch’. He caught her and threw her against the cold stone wall. He punched her hard in the abdomen.

Her escape failed. Stunned into submission she walked the aisle toward her inevitable future.

Model: Jamille

Premonition

152 x 102cm

Oil on Polycotton

$3000 - SOLD

GONE GIRL

The transition from girl to woman is no cause for celebration.

It is a mourning. A sad day when her freedom is lost. No more running wild, climbing trees and playing with the boys. New rules and restrictions begin to weigh heavy on young shoulders.

Marriage looms on the horizon.

Model: Arantza

Gone Girl

61 x 99cm

Oil on Polycotton

$1,500

Seen Not Heard

Girls were raised to ‘Be Seen and Not Heard’.

Thankfully times have changed somewhat, however when it comes to Child Abuse it is still ‘UNSPEAKABLE’.

The victims are shrouded in guilt and shame. The terrible secret is kept within their tiny frame, and when the signs become clear in retrospect, Mothers blame themselves.

Models: Haidee and Harriet

Seen Not Heard

152 x 102cm

Oil on Polycotton

$3000 - SOLD

BLOOD MONEY

She will not complain. She receives her Blood Money. Her Silence is assured.

He says; “Look what you made me do.”

He is always sorry, after, and showers her with jewels. He says; “It will never happen again.”

It happens again.

Model: Esther

Blood Money

61 x 99cm

Oil on Polycotton

$1,500 - SOLD

Silently Watching

This painting was the one that set my exhibition in motion. The models reaction to the painting is beautifully expressed below:-

“It is as if from a distance you had perceived exactly my current state of mind. Silently watching what happens outside of me. With the hope drawn on the breast, the cross that indicates the path. Calm hands. Waiting. The words that need to calm down and stay warm, blindfolded on the mouth. The red of the dress is a passion that permeates the expectation and burns like fire…”

- Erika Comina, 2019 (Tuscany)

Model: Erika

Silent Watching

61cm x 99cm

Oil on Polycotton

$1,500 - SOLD

SHUT ME UP, SHUT ME DOWN SALA 2020

Domestic violence and child abuse is still considered ‘unmentionable’, ‘taboo’, ‘shameful’, ‘distasteful’ and then Victoria announced its ‘Victim Gagging Order’.

We must not be SHUT UP and SHUT DOWN. Women are speaking out more and more about crimes against them and I must add my voice, a silent voice that is loud and uncomfortable! We must continue to be heard and believed... not gagged.

There has been a surge in domestic violence cases during the Coronavirus Pandemic. Isolated, alone, the home has become a pressure cooker that threatens to explode on a daily basis. I have, like so so many other women, lived with a violent partner. Unlike many I survived and years later I am strong enough to take this subject matter on in my art practice.

It may be uncomfortable for viewers to come face to face with my paintings even if I have softened the blow by excluding visible injuries in these large-scale portraits. I believe the message still comes through loud and clear, maybe more so for the lack of physical signs of the violence perpetrated against the women and children in these works.It is my hope that the paintings in this exhibition will resonate with others who are trapped and that the works might show them that they are acknowledged, heard and believed.

If we keep the discussion open (not silenced and gagged) and educate our children, who knows, maybe we might lower the curve. - Liana Vargas

SHUT ME UP, SHUT ME DOWN
An Exhibition of Large-Scale Portraits by Liana VargasDates: 1st August to 30th September 2020 Where: The Atelier Crafers, 1 Cox Place, Crafers

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact Liana

Mobile Phone: 0408136466

Email: mail@lianavargas.com.au

“…I put away my boots and took up the brush.”