The art Unique anti-violence project sponsored by crisis services society Martin Millerchip Assistant Newsroom Editor mmillerchip@nsnews.com THE sound of cotton cloth torn quickly is disconcerting, jarring — even violent. In the small meeting room of the North Shore Crisis Services Society (NCCSS) it echoes loudly. Home Free Project facilitators Lizanne Fisher and Dorothy Wolf are ripping material in various shades of blue into long ragged strips. The bundles of torn cloth will join others already hung on the wali. All of them will soon become a beard for Tiva-faced Bully, the mixed media canvas that is one of several art pieces in the room. All wiil be on display at Spirit Centre (106 West Ist St., North Vancouver) for the first nine days of November. The timing is appropriate. November is the North Shore’s Together Against Violence month and all seven participat- “ing- women are survivors of violence in their lives. The press release that brought us here describes them as “thrivers.” It's a more inter- esting word than “survivors.” Susan Sagiorgis-Woodhouse arrives bearing The Instrument of Power that she has been adding to at home. An amazing assortment of kitchen and household objects — mostly red — “wp, somewhat precariously at this point, a sbroom handle. Fisher, Wolf and nwo other “artists, Eileen Pinkerton and Nicole Blanchette, ~ gather to acknowledge the growth of the piece. A fleeting thought: the name seem too self important. The three women artists, all victims of violence, tell me J can publish their names in the Nemsand hope their stories may inspire other women to leave abusive relationships. I ant * ashamed of my thought. “In the corner is an oddly shaped woman’s fig- ure with three faces. She is: The Thriver, or Warrior Woman —a sculpture ofa woman com- posed of the cast body parts of all of the partici- ants. She has a crown and pouring out of her hands are.the Keys, representing those qualities - which helped her ultimately triumph. One of the women tells me, “Please say she is large-boned.”. There. is laughter, then a pause. Someone else‘adds, “You could say she is pow- erful.” “In the coming art exhibit she will wear the * Cloak af Support. Originally planned as the Wall of Support, the 6x10 foor canvas contains multi- -layered images from the participants” own lives and history that represent support. The concept changed when the group decided it would make . More sense for what it represents to enfold The Thriver. a ; o 1 JAs the cloak is laid out on the floor for a pho- " tographer, Wolf explains that the purple (colour _ of power) backing which overlaps to form a two- “inch perimeter around the cloak will have the «words “What backs me up? Who Backs me up?” repeated around the edge. ... The group dynamic is immediately illustrated as other women debate whether “Who supports ‘me? Whar. supports me?” would be a better choice of words. ; ; >The correct words are important when you Sarein the middle of redefining who you are and what your life is about. ; 7 339. Pinkerton's marriage broke up seven years cago.’ “1 had ‘shut. down a lot and intimacy was missing, not just from my marriage but in all my elationships.”” *: Childhood-violence, a word she uses to ncompass events left unsaid that she thought he had left behind, came back to haunt her. “She says she has worked on her healing in the ast four years and no longer blames her husband ‘for everything. “I came to realize that 1 was fraid that } would be hit. { chought if T let him get too close, he might hit me too, There was no love in che marnage and J felt as if | was dying. | vas in my 40s and I could see no hope tor the ure.” Her two sons (on the Cloak of Support) were affected by Pinkerton’s difficulties and the fami- ly rift. “The challenge with my sons has been lowing them to be who they are. Pve found ince .[. have. been healing myself that iny sons Sunday, October 22. 2000 - North Shore News - 3 ~ SUNDAY Focus —- ing ff Neen i) ay FACILITATORS Lizanne Fisher (left) and Dorothy Wolf tear fabric that will be used to make a giant beard for an art piece called Two-faced Bully in the The Home Free Project. The starting point for the artwork was the stories of Bluebeard. . At a glance | ‘North Shore Crisis Services Society Objectives ; Po. To provide safe and secure emergency . shelter, to offer client-centred support ser- Vices, to foster self-esteem and self-deter- mination and to work toward ending vio- lence through education and increasing public awareness. History : Founded in 1979, by a group of women concerned by a lack of services for women and children living with or fleeing from abuse and violence, NSCSS operates: @ SAGE. Transition House, an 18 bed emergency shelter for women and chil- dren leaving abusive’ situations; coun- selling support groups and referral ser- * vices are available; . : Lo @ a 24 hour women’s crisis line; and . @ the Good Stuff Conncetion donations program where women and children with restricted financial means reccive in-kind donations from generous members of our community. All services are offered free of charge to women and children who teed them. Contact ‘person: . ‘Maureen * Gabriel, executive ‘director (604) 987-1773, tacal 309 : i have become more successful.” One refused to go to school for pvo years but has since graduat- ed, while the other who dropped from a straight- A student to failing in three subjects is now in college. Pinkerton says the Home Free Project has given her a safe phice to rediscover her creativity. * She has always loved art but “as a child, it wasn’t safe to be seen — to express myself. U felt it was better if nobody ever saw what an imperfect child I was.” She went to UBC and graduated with a degree in art history but acknowledges she was intellectualizing other people's art. “As I started to get in touch with my own creativity, the pain came up. At one polat in this project, | actually felt 1 was going to die.” She credits Fisher and Wolf with helping her through her pain. 9909 Fisher is a cultural anthropologist, expressive arts facilitator and community artist. She has worked as an adult educator and consultant with agencies, government, corporations and First Nations groups and in the arts. Over the vears, Fisher has become more and more committed to using the arts as a means for the voices of individuals to inform, to build and inspire the conmunity. As an anthropologist, she examined the arts of indigenous cultures and investigated how arts were used for healing and community building. Fisher believes that as a community witness- es, celebrates and participates in stories told through the arts, it is possible for individuals to be healed, for hope to be kindled and for the community as a whole to be strengthened. Wolf is an experiential trainer, community artist, actress and playwright. She has worked for many years as a trainer and management consul- tant to the non-profit sector bur has also appeared in midnight review comedy, played to political rallies, and bounced around the: province in a van taking theatre to remote com- munities. She was one of the artist /facilitators of Background Theatre’s Open House: Seeing Through Walls, a Canada Council Explorations project, that brought together 43 women, aged 14 tw 84, through interviews, photo essays, workshops and assembfage assignments, to build a 3,500-sg.-ft. (325 sq. m) installation about “making home.” Wolf says she strongly believes that we each need to feel that our story has been heard. “Community art is a way fo. stories to be told and to be heard. As we hear others" stories of struggle or triumph, we see that transformation is possible if we are willing to risk the vulnerabil- ity of self-revelation.” 203 Sagiorgis-Woodhouse spent 10 yzars in an abusive marriage in Prince George. “T never knew I was really being abused. | knew the violence wasn’t right but FE thought ‘OK, I deserve it,” but the mental abuse, the nanie-calling was far worse. I gave my power totally away by seeking his love but he didn’t respect me and it got to the point where I didn’t respect me. “T always felt that I was trapped. 1 was ‘ashamed. UE didn’t want to be a burden to my family and | was told, ‘Marriage counselling won't work because you're the f***ing prob- len.” The turning point came when Sagiorgis- Woodhouse sas told she could not have coun- selling for her troubled children unless she left the relationship. In North Vancouver she says she has found “choice, freedom, decision-mak- ing and spending my money.” Bat it’s been a painful process too: “many tears, much anger and 2 lot of depression. “T never knew how much healing had to be done. You've got to unpack that bag to get rid of the baggage or youl) be dragging it around with vou. “T want women to know they don’t have to live with the bully. There are choices.” 3993 Two-faced Bullyis a canvas on which all seven participating women have collaborated. He has a charming smile and, on one side, a soulfil eve, but this face blends into one of burning cyes, pointed teeth and an angry smile. The bully will, have a very flat body and very large hands. On: his beard — the project began with a considera- tion of all the various forms of the Bluebeard story — will be blue balloons that spectators may pop with the pins on their Together Against Violence ribbens. According to Wolf, other clements of the project’s exhibit will include: @ The Dreams and Promises — large. pieces of black paper covered in all of the things life, men or society implicitly or explicitly promised the participants. They will be laminated and proba- bly fie on the floor. The dreams have been tram- pled by the bully and are covered in farge blue footprints. . {4 The Rules — all of the implicit and explicit rules, conditions and assumptions that were hid- den behind the promises. They will form a brick, wall behind the bully.’ Loe B The Doors — a kind of self-portrait, these are kitchen cupboard doors signifying what. doors closed and what doors. opened for the partici- pants during and after their experience with vio- _ lence. They will be hung by wire so that they | look like a set of kitchen cupboards. @ The Stories — each participant has been given a set of sentences to complete. The completed sentences tell each women’s story as ifit were the story of Bluebeard. These stories will be hand written on dish towels and hung on a clothes ine. The disptay will also include audio tapes and _ “wall panels, where the participants speak in their”. own words about what cach of the pieces means to them, what they hope the viewer will see as well as their comments about relationship vio- lence and about participating in the project. - 900 : : Blanchette “fell in love with his eyes. He did- See Violence page 9 Sunday Focus to move SUNDAY Focus stories will likely be moved -. further back in our paper in the event of the expected federal election so that the News can devote more space to the news and views of local candidates secking your vote. ‘