Painting objects that become a symbol

These two works are of a big bunch of flowers that Legacy sent me. After three years of being supported by Legacy, I had agreed to be a mouthpiece to their Legacy Week fundraising effort this year. Recently, I noticed that my online story had been edited on Legacy’s website to remove the elements of domestic violence. I was extremely upset by this and wrote a strongly worded email in defence of the integrity of my story and my right to have it completely told. They restored my story later, but a month or two later, removed it completely.

After that, Legacy sent me a huge bunch of flowers to thank my daughter and I for supporting them during the campaign. Whilst overall, Legacy had helped me enormously over the years and I accepted their apology, I felt that my trust of them had been damaged. I felt I couldn’t draw or paint the flowers until they had wilted severely and almost died. These two pictures are of the bouquet but represent the disappointment and trauma of the event. Domestic violence survivors fight hard enough to have their perspectives believed, and after surviving and working so hard to thrive afterwards, they deserve to have their authentic stories unedited. The card in the first picture was left blank, because in the thank you note, so much was left unsaid.