What Price Silence?
What Price Silence? is a contemporary mixed-media assemblage — an intimate, layered study of silence, power, and the costs of complicity. Inspired by testimony brought forward during the #MeToo movement, the work considers how voices are suppressed — through shame, coercion, or reward — and how those pressures reverberate in private and public life.
Mixed Media Assemblage
16 x 12 x 4 inches | Custom Framed
2020
At center, a doll’s face — mouth obscured, gaze lowered — embodies enforced silence. Surrounding luxuries of blue-gray velvet and mauve satin, together with a necklace of rose quartz, mother-of-pearl, freshwater pearls, and amethyst-toned Murano glass, suggest the seductions and payouts that keep truths contained. A subtly skewed frame introduces visual imbalance, hinting at dissonance beneath composed surfaces. Every element circles back to the same question — What is the price of keeping silent?
Refined yet unsparing, What Price Silence? brings material beauty and ethical inquiry into sharp focus — a concept-driven narrative assemblage engaging social justice, victims’ rights and the ongoing work of accountability.
Materials: Altered photograph, acrylic paint, velvet, satin, paper, rose quartz, Murano glass, mother-of-pearl, freshwater pearls, wood
Framing: Archival museum glass in a deep black custom frame by Chevy Chase Art Gallery, Washington, DC.
Justice & Belonging, All