THE THEATRE OF VIOLENCE

This project is an exploration of the intense focus on violence in media and popular culture. I am curious about a society that views violence as entertainment and how this is reflective of rape culture. Rape culture exists where male aggression and violence against women is viewed as acceptable and inevitable. My work is situated within a feminist, trauma-informed framework in the era of #MeToo. I am critiquing the systems and institutions that hold and abuse power, with an open invitation to reflect on one’s own complicity in the enjoyment of violent content. Trauma and theatre are intuition in motion. I have used embodied performance to express the imprint of gender-based violence on mind and body. The body holds the language of trauma and my body has something to say.

 

Drey Willows, ‘Living Paintbrush’, 2023, performance

 

Drey Willows, ‘Missing’, 2023, screen print and embossing

 

Drey Willows, ‘If It Bleeds, It Leads’, 2023, performance

 

Drey Willows, ‘Violet Femme’, 2023, cyanotype

 

Drey Willows (she/her) is a visual artist living and creating on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people. Drey’s creative research is informed by her professional background as a crisis-response, family violence social worker. Influenced by philosophy and studies from the medical, humanities and social sciences, Drey utilises intuition and experimentation to explore the complexities of the human condition, particularly in relation to understanding trauma through creative practice. 

 
 
Drey Willows, ‘If It Bleeds, It Leads’, 2023, performance

 

instagram: @dreywillows_art

ajwillows.wixsite.com/artistpage

Drey Willows

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Drey Willows