Files
Academic Level at Time of Creation
Senior
Date of Creation
Fall 10-31-2025
Artist Statement
My artwork consists of large self portrait drawings. They are about my experience with getting raped and sexually assaulted. The drawings being such a large scale is a way that I can force the audience to be confronted with what I want to say. Like Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece, I give the audience tools to do what they want with my drawing. By placing the same materials in their hands, I force the audience into embodying my abuser, whether they want it or not. In reality I’m objectifying myself through my drawings and letting the viewer assault me.
Charcoal is a very messy medium to work with. It gets all over your hands, in your nose, and just washing it off with soap and water doesn’t completely remove it. Which relates to how assault can be; how you constantly feel it under the clean skin. Chalk pastels are my way of grabbing the audience's attention. Warmer tones attract the eye and are often associated with flesh. They are also connected with urgency, like a stop sign or an alarm, hence why I primarily use red and yellow. The problem with chalk pastels is that you can’t erase it since the paper gets stained. If the audience uses a lot of color then it gets harder to remove or cover up. Ink is applied carefully to certain parts of the drawing so that way I can keep that area untouched from the audience. In a way it’s like the parts of myself that will always remain no matter what happens. Although if the audience applies ink to the work, then that impact can’t be undone.
Jenny Saville, Maria Lassnig, and Yoko Ono are the biggest inspirations with my artwork. Jenny Saville creates larger than life self-portraiture drawings where she layers multiples of herself on top one another causing a distortion effect; working primarily in charcoal. Maria Lassnig made works about the awareness of her own body over time, constantly changing based on her emotions. Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, is a big inspiration for having the audience be participants with the making of my drawing. These artists have helped me figure out my style and ways to attack the figure, more significantly self portraiture. They have influenced the way I depict my pain, distortion of my own body, and the viewers playing the part of ruining me.
Advisor/Mentor
Sarah Martin, April Webb, T. Mike Martin, an Lu Colby
Description
The space is filled with charcoal self portrait drawings. The first drawing (4ft x 5ft) that influenced the style and visual composition for the final one. There’s another (4ft x 7ft) that also influenced the final one with the change of style. In the middle is the final drawing that was made for the exhibition (4ft x 30ft). This one has interactive elements where the viewers are allowed to make marks wherever they want. The materials they are given are the same materials used to make the drawings that are displayed. Charcoal, chalk pastels (reds and yellows), and ink. The audience is forced to play a roll of my abuser, where they are assaulting me (the self portraits).
Photo Credit
All photos were taken from me.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Groves, Krizianna, "TOUCH" (2025). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 164.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/164