Women in Art 278 Magazine April 2017 | Page 7

from surviving ​Our April issue features artists such as Nina Luna and Karen Lillard who have taken a trauma in their lives and transformed it into an art form. Traumatic experiences  have profound impacts on our lives and what we do with  it  as we sort through the emotions and the experience(s) helps us process what happened and what it means for the future. Nina and Karen had different experiences but both wound up using art as a means of expression. I was moved by how Nina described her awareness of a nude mannequin and how she suddenly saw it differently. Nina survived breast cancer - a battle that many women deal with but not all survive. Those who survive, I am told, often cope with a new sense of self. Having our breasts removed is often a part of our womanhood and identify. The decision to have a mastectomy or lumpectomy and perhaps breast augmentation isn’t taken lightly. Breasts are often a part of our womanhood and - for many woman, it’s a part of motherhood as well. I love the videos online that show women who turn their scars into tattooed artwork. Nina’s art was to paint nude mannequins. I love this idea and am inspired by her canvas for expressing her art.  the editor & art moods and art has the ability to change with us. Jilian Cramb, also featured this issue, shares that her art is often created as an outlet during a period of despair. Jillian bravely shares with us that she has a mental illness but works through it - survives it and lives to tell the story of coping through her art. I am so deeply inspired by the artists who share with the world something that could easily have remained hidden -- they could have coped without anyone knowing. Whether battling a mental health illness, a physical disease like cancer or surviving a sexual assault ... these women could have kept their experiences locked away. But, instead, they put it on display for everyone. Their art is beautiful and shows the transformative ability of what we can create through our emotional lives. Thank you to Jilian, Karen, and Nina for sharing the story behind their art. LMarelli Liesl Marelli Editor-in-Chief Karen’s experience as a survivor of a home invasion and sexual assault was her motivation to heal and express through art. Turning to art, poetry, performance art and the like are powerful and meaningful ways to express troubling experiences. No two people may feel or experience a situation similarly but I do feel that art as a therapy is a positive way to process -- because emotions and experiences are connected, distorted, change based on our ART 7 pag e