I am a 21 year old female survivor of sexual assault. I believe in the power of survival. The central figure in this piece represents a woman who is proud and unashamed of her body. She stands next to a pedestal, representative of her life before assault. She is now separate from that life and has changed from its flesh tones to a mixture of red and blues. This color choice along with the red cloth flowing in the negative space, reference the classic colors of Madonna and child portraiture from the Renaissance. The woman struggles with the Madonna/whore complex placed on her by a gendered society. However as the red and blue combine within her figure, the color purple is suggested: the color of surviving the horrible experience. This woman is not who she is because of sexual assault. She is who she is despite it. There is beauty in her strength. She is forever changed.

My body is not here for you, it is here because I am beautiful.