ARTIST STATEMENT
“I whispered: Memory hurts wherever you touch it.” – George Seferis
My body of work echoes the constant emotional sting of our most tender traumas. It begs viewers to confront their own understandings of pain and alleviation. As a survivor of sexual violence, the pieces are created with tenderness and care. Each work contains reverence for the collective pain of silenced voices. In this space of creation, healing occurs. There is catharsis in letting go of my own heavy burden of silence. It is my hope that the discussions of sexual violence that are present in my work become catalysts for change, especially on college campuses. My BFA Thesis Exhibition, titled Memory hurts wherever you touch it, is an interdisciplinary body of work comprised of images, text, and objects portraying the stories and experiences of survivors of sexual violence. The subjects, often delicate fruit or fragile garments of clothing, mimic the aching of these instantaneous moments of stolen agency. The act of inflicting aggressive physical change onto these objects is a catharsis. Memory Hurts has allowed me to confront my own grief, humiliation, and sorrow. It simultaneously asks its audience to open a dialogue for institutional change, both on and off college campuses.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Magdalena Saliba is an interdisciplinary artist, art historian, and activist. Her work continually asks, and attempts to answer, questions regarding healing and trauma. Though primarily a lens based artist, Magdalena finds necessity in physical touch with everything she creates. Her projects also call for constant collaboration and discussion with other survivors, creatives, and queer folks alike in order to create a more accessible and truthful narrative. Magdalena currently creates work in Chicago and New Orleans, where she recently graduated with a BFA in Studio Art and BA in Art history from Tulane University.
© Magdalena Rose Marie Saliba