Project creation

Based on the information I gathered from my research on how women are treated in society and my study of activism and art, I decided to create a project that incorporates the artistic disciplines through which I wish to establish myself as an artist. As an artist, I want to be known for my commitment to social issues surrounding mental health and safety for women.

This project, Through Medusa’s Eyes, addresses the reality of insecurity that women face and seeks to engage men in a conversation about that reality.

As an artist, I recognize the importance of art in addressing social issues because art can serve as a medium that makes women’s stories visible and open to discussion. As stated in the book *Art On My Mind* (Books, 1995), author Bell Hooks argues that art functions as a medium through which marginalized experiences are collectively made visible and discussable. She notes in this book that negative or absent representations of women can reinforce social inequality. She says that the right representation doesn’t just serve to create visibility but also about power, who is seen, who is heard and who’s experiences matter. I see this as a perfect goal for my project, making women feel strong and heard.

The final version

The artwork “Through Medusa’s Eyes” consists of three screens. One screen depicts women; through artistic visuals, it is clear that they are women, but a blurring of the image prevents you from seeing their exact individual faces. A second screen depicts men; with the same blurring as the women, you can see that they are men but cannot identify who they are. The middle and final screen displays text that is linked to the music being played. The music features the voices of various women telling personal stories about feeling unsafe. In between the stories, there are quotes from men who have heard these stories and have responded with their own experiences regarding safety and their reflections on the women’s stories. The style of this project is artistic and focused on showing the personal experiences. The use of different people and the visual separation between men and women should convey to the viewer, right from the first image, what this project is about.

The snakes

This project is called “Through Medusa’s Eyes”, with the reference to Medusa because she is a well-known symbol and often associated with sexual violence and assault. Medusa comes from ancient Greek mythology, where she was a priestess at a temple dedicated to Athena. One day, she was raped by the god Poseidon, and the jealous goddess Athena accused her of seducing Poseidon, causing her to be transformed into a monster for eternity. She symbolizes how women who experience sexual violence are still too often blamed and held accountable themselves. I used her name and symbolic snakes for it captures my subject of sexual assault. (Lesli, 2021)

The women

Before I had a clear vision for my project, I started talking to men in my community about women’s safety, in order to gain more insight from their perspective. What struck me was that every man recognized the “We Claim The Night” movement and what it aimed to achieve, but actually had no idea about women’s everyday experiences. Since my project aims to engage men in this topic, it became important for me to use those individual stories.

I reached out to women in my network and received a flood of positive responses. What I found noteworthy in my search for participants is that I didn't have to ask any woman if she had a story about feeling unsafe because of a man, but rather which story she wanted to share. I have also incorporated this finding into my project because I sometimes feel that it is not always known that most women do not just have one story but multiple experiences of feeling unsafe.

What struck me was that some women I approached, despite finding it a beautiful project, did not want to participate. They found it too painful to record a story. For me, that actually meant the value of this project, because these kinds of experiences can be so intense that it is still too painful for the women to recount even after some time. I added that on a note in this project, for I believe that is noteworthy to mention for it tells the viewer how heavy and how impactful these experiences are.

The stories that were sent to me were also impressive. Very personal and unpleasant stories from my friends, most of which I didn't even know about. To present it as a global issue, I made sure to also get stories in other languages.

The men

I have chosen the men for this project in a similar way as the women. Namely, young adults who lead an active life in the city. I was able to message men in my network and started discussing the topic beforehand. When I started inviting men to the conversation itself, I received the same response multiple times, which was the fear of being portrayed as a bad person. They initially saw this project as one for women and against men, as they often get the impression when discussing women's safety. I was able to gain more confirmation from that, as I am creating my project for both men and women, and my goal is not to accuse but to provide insight. After I was able to explain to the men that my goal is awareness, they were all happy to participate.

I interviewed the men individually, each first listening to the recorded stories of the women. Reactions from that were initially silence and discomfort. After that, I engaged the men in conversation using questions I had devised. I was able to divide the questions into three parts: my first questions were about their experience with personal safety, then how they think women are concerned with safety, and finally how they themselves and other men have both positive and negative influences on that safety.

It was a completely new experience for me to hear it like this. The men gave me insights that I would never have come up with myself. Thus, I gained new intended impacts through the conversations. For example, it was mentioned that someone learned all his knowledge about interacting with women from his mother, and I hope that if a mother sees my project and reads that quote, she might be more inclined to have a conversation about safety with her son. It was also mentioned that someone sometimes addressed friends about inappropriate behavior toward women in the city, and my hope would be that someone who sees my project would be encouraged to also address friends if there was a need for it.

All the conversations were very positive for me as well as for the men. They indicated that they found it a super interesting topic to talk about without prejudices. One of the men also shared experiences of a friend of his and how he sees the impact it has on her life and her approach to safety. I received that answer to one of my questions and it just happens to be exactly what I would like to achieve with this project.

Impact

As I mentioned before, what struck me was that some women I approached, despite finding it a beautiful project, did not want to participate. It shows how deep these situations of sexual violence go if they make for such impact. For me it showed the importance of this project, since I’m making it to share awareness.

When I spoke with the men during my interviews, they continued discussing this topic even after the recording had ended; they shared their own stories and those of female friends that had stayed with them. I realized from this that this topic made people eager to share stories and engage in dialogue. I found this insight important and wanted to incorporate it into my project. In my installation at the church, I therefore want to provide an opportunity for people to respond to this work.

Artistic practice

Another important aspect of this project for me was how it would influence my artistic practice. Through extensive feedback on various sketches, as explained further below, I adapted my project to prioritize the value and intensity of the subject. In my creative process, I also made choices based on my perspective as an artist. With my exhibition project, I also showcase who I am and what I can do as an artist. In a conversation about my process with Dr. Rosa Wevers, this also led me to make certain choices. I want to convey this story of safety for women through my artistic language, which means the use of imagery and music. I therefore created an extensive musical piece to support my project. Through testing and seeking feedback, I prioritized the clarity of the recorded stories of women and built a musical piece around them that showcases my skill. I incorporated imagery through my exhibition at NP3. In earlier versions, I felt that my project did not convey the gravity and the personal nature of the subject, and I wanted it to be clear even from a distance that my project addressed issues affecting both men and women. I therefore chose the format of two screens playing on a loop. This is purely a visual hint at the subject, designed to draw the viewer in.

The Faces

In my visuals, you see people walking by a screen with women and a screen with men. Both images are unrecognizable due to a blurry filter over the people. The choice for this had several reasons: that I wanted to give anonymity to the women and men I asked for this. They are indeed the same women and men who made the voice recordings for me and who have been interviewed by me. What I also hoped to achieve with this choice was a sense of representation, that it is not just about the individual but about representing many.

An additional layer I discovered during the creative process is that this vagueness could also mean that the women are not truly seen. Which aligns with my assertion that stories about women's safety are often not heard.

White background

I chose the white background for the safe and controlled environment it conveys. It somewhat reminds me of a documentary setting, sincere and professional. In my initial ideas, I considered filming the footage in places where sexual harassment often occurs, such as public transportation or bars. I did not choose this because, in my opinion, it would draw too much attention and could potentially be distracting. I would personally think, "do I recognize that place" or "how unsafe do I find that place myself." The white style keeps it direct and confrontational.

As I describe below in my second sketch, I also experimented with using real images depicting sexual harassment; my reason for not using them is the same as why the setting has a white background. It made me focus on the person doing the harassing rather than the person being harassed. I want to keep my focus on the stories and the women who have endured this, which is why I made this choice in imagery.

The music

The music I created evolved significantly through my initial sketches. My first sketch focused too much on the artistic aspect of this project, which resulted in overlapping stories from the women and compromised the clarity of the message. In other versions, I didn’t include music, which I feel detracts from me as a creator; this is a project through which I showcase my artistic practice, and music is my means of doing so otherwise, I would have had to create this project as a journalist rather than as an artist.

In a subsequent version, I made the music supportive, soft, and emotional. Based on feedback from Dr. Rosa Wevers, I concluded that this approach could unintentionally steer the emotional direction. By using soft and emotional music, it seemed as though the viewer would be expected to experience my project with pity and view the women as victims. Personally, I see a great deal of power in sharing these stories and can also find anger in the anger toward the people who sexually abuse or harass women. I therefore wanted my music not to dictate an emotion, so I created music that does not itself carry a clear emotion.

In the follow page are descriptions of earlier versions of this project. I have included an explanation of why each one did not work for my project. Images from the artworks are included for clarification.