Jenna
Alstad
performance artist
The
Gardens
She
Grew
"My truth project focused on domestic violence in the United States through the lens of my mother. This concept originated when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and began revealing much of her truth that she had never shared with me before. I explored the concept of inherited trauma, the theft of the female body, and the relationship between domestic violence and the founding of the United States. This project was challenging, but spoke to a truth deeper than my mother's and my own story. It is a radical form of activism to make yourself so bare, and I took that head-on by baring myself." -Jenna
"I devised this piece by first writing and revising the poem and then utilizing image theatre techniques to create the movement. The movement was inspired by my mother's struggle with cancer and the ways in which I saw her body, bare and manipulated, as she struggled to overcome being blindsided by this illness in many of the ways she was blindsided by abuse. The placement of the bruising was intentional based on the ways in which my mother was physically abused and the ways in which cancer had abused her body. Every physical choice was related to her struggle." -Jenna
Event Poster
Designed by Jenna Alstad
collage created by Jenna Alstad