Please join us for the closing reception and presentation of this phenomenal show curated by Ryann Casey. The closing will feature conversations with some of the artists moderated by Ryann Casey and the author of the show’s incredible essay, Kate Spiller.
The Mark and The Memory explores the ways the contemporary photograph can document, embrace, and process trauma. From personal narratives to collective responses, the exhibition examines how the photographic medium uses history, intervention, and self-documentation to address and respond to traumatic experiences.
- 6:00 In-person Reception & Virtual Walk-Thru
- 6:30 Conversations on Transformative Moments, Art & Trauma; Moderated by Ryann Casey & Kate Spiller
- 7:30 Q&A for the Artists & Moderators
Essay by Kate Spiller:
Where Do We Go From Here? One Perspective on Trauma and Healing
I carry many identities with me. I am a transracial adoptee. I am queer. I am nonbinary. I am a child to two different mothers. I am one of five siblings. I am indigenous. I am a mentor. I am a guide during periods of time in people’s lives. I am a partner. I am a best friend.
I am also a survivor. I am a survivor of emotional abuse, sexual assault, rape, sexual harassment, racism, sexism, homophobia…it’s a list. To be frank, I am an ongoing survivor of white supremacy. As a survivor, I carry the wounds and scars of trauma with me, visible on some level, invisible on another. What I have learned about is the complexities of my traumas. Some of my traumas feel strange and foreign and take time to unpack. Other traumas I have become so accustomed to that they’re like an old acquaintance I’m sharing time and space with.
Trauma is tricky because it’s often inconsistent in how it shows up in ourselves and in others. In the work I do as a transformative mediator, I see all types of trauma and I’m constantly reminded of how hard it can be to move forward. I hear stories from survivors who carry pain, shame, sadness, anger, a desire for revenge, helplessness…all these complicated feelings that a person needs to sort through all while living their day to day experience. Additionally, the person who inflicted harm is also carrying trauma. They can get stuck in spirals of shame, self-hate, and uncertainty around how to move forward if they haven’t taken accountability for past harm and/or are terrified they might inflict it again.
Most of the individuals I work with aren’t exactly sure of what healing looks and feels like or what repair could be. What they do know is that the pain they’re carrying is too exhausting. I ask them about who modeled concepts of conflict, communication, and accountability for them; how they learned to deal with grief, pain and healing. The overwhelming response is that no one really did. I scale this up and have them think about the society they grew up in and how it has conditioned them around specific ways of engaging in these topics. American society in particular has not modeled other ways of addressing harm or trauma aside from investing in the same punitive measures that lead to reinforcing harm, not reducing it. It seems often that people feel their options are silently suffering and avoiding, or hanging onto anger that isn’t supportive to their personal healing. Attempting a new approach around trauma then relies on vulnerability and risk-taking, a delicate balance of trust and support for all involved parties. My role is to provide a space where they can consider what it could look like if trauma was given a place in their lives where it is honored and recognized, but not held onto out of fear or anxiety that harm can happen again.
We explore how people are not practiced in the act of accountability, both individually and collectively, and that our current systems allow harm to happen. Our current society defines harm in binary terms; that a person is solely defined as good or bad. In a description of transformative justice, prominent transformative justice practitioner and activist Mia Mingus mentions how “violence does not happen in a vacuum” and that we must acknowledge the connections around incidents of harm with the conditions that create and support them.1 Contextualizing harm as it occurs through oppressive structures, can help in the recognition of the power and influence these systems have on our communities. Through this practice, we are able to identify shifts in understanding trauma as it relates to cycles of harm on a structural level, while also holding the complexity of people, and that a practice of accountability is a way to disrupt future cycles of harm.
When I think about the question, “where do we go from here?” I fall back on the experiences and wisdom I’ve gained from working with communities. Through spending time reflecting and storytelling, we are able to collaborate on opportunities for shifts toward empowerment and recognition. Often, we can’t repair the specific relationships or circumstances that have harmed us. However, we can tell our stories and we can create new ways to communicate. Storytelling, in all its forms, is a way to share our personal histories with the public. It’s an opportunity to have the audience view life through different lenses. Also, by understanding and discussing how we can’t tie our healing to a person’s change in behavior (because it’s possible that will never happen), we free ourselves of the burden of being responsible for their change. Instead, we can aim to create relationships that support better ways of living in community with one another, and ensure that we will not contribute to cycles of harm. These practices can help us become OK with never feeling fully healed or finding closure. We can practice skills around communication and conflict management, around self-accountability as a way to strengthen our self trust and interdependence. We can advocate and work toward the end of oppressive systems and imagine new ways of living together. By examining the wholeness of a situation, the individual choices and systematic structures that allowed for harm caused, we can create new ways to move forward.
I don’t believe there is one way to move on from trauma. It would be ignorant of me to even suggest that. What I do believe in, is thinking expansively. I believe in the power of collaboration, creativity, and community care. I believe in challenging ourselves to take risks in supported spaces and create opportunities to heal. In exploring alternative ways, we can reconsider how we think about trauma, the paths and possibilities that lie ahead, out of the darkness and into the light.
-Kate Spiller
M.Ed., Transformative Mediator 1 Mingus, Mia. (n.d.). Transformative Justice: A Brief Description. Transform Harm. https://transformharm.org/transformative-justice-a-brief-description/
Participating Artists: Terry Boddie, Renée C. Byer, Chrystofer Davis, Tim Dill, Emily Fuhrmann, Paul Kitagaki Jr., Heidi Kirkpatrick, Hannah Kozak, Bridget Laudien, Diana Markosian, Camilla Martineli, Janelle Wilson, Tamara Torres & artists from the Odyssey Project (Nathan Maybee, Chris Veltri, Erica Duncan, Brianna Robinson). The exhibition will be curated by Ryann Casey and will feature an introductory essay by Kate Spiller.