Women from Brazil ("Sacred Trinity")

FOR OUR SISTERS STANDING UP TO VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS.

Acrylics and marker pen on canvas. 36 x 36 ins.

They live in the land of rhythm and natural beauty, where a woman reports rape every three hours. Their story reached me through a friend. Three generations of women. Not one of them was spared. Each surviving an assault that cut deep into her soul. Their bloodline branded by this heinousness. Their perpetrators never found. And the suffering extends beyond the three evil acts. Harassment and constant threats of violence against women sprout around them with the vigor of the Amazon. Their circumstance never really feels safe. But in the face of it, they choose not to cower. As if their love gives them wings to soar over fear and pain, this grandmother, mother, and daughter carry on. Just one loving gaze, one tender caress, fills them with strength to hold on to the peace within and create kindness in their life. Amidst the chaos, violence, police brutality – this sacred trinity perseveres to thrive peacefully in their world.