In the space of five years I was sexually assaulted at knifepoint, then physically assaulted by my lover, who then stopped me seeing the child we had brought into the world. The world has felt unsafe.

It’s only in the last year, some 30-odd years later, that I am joining up the dots as to why I am always compelled to keep my distance from people no matter how far in they reach towards me. What triggered this awakening was noticing my habit of holding my hand to help me sleep, as well as noticing an increase in an internal dialogue “what’s wrong with me?”

This project is my way of communicating the impact these events have had on me, and how photography is helping me process. It is a selfish self-serving act of art, and whether any audience connects with this will be a bonus. I hope they do- this work is how I am healing, perhaps others will too.

My practice has centred on emotion, and I put heart and soul into my work. In this work, my guts are also exposed. Photography is my therapeutic tool, it’s my self-care practice, and it’s how I capture the exposure of emotion.

Trauma informs this project- how life events shape who we become and what happens when we do nothing to disrupt the chaos that follows, that amplifies behaviour and emotion.

Nature has been significant in the process of recovery- at first I thought it was a clichéd response, but increasingly I am valuing that I do feel better when surrounded by trees than by people. That this is not weird, this is vital to me….

The lighting in the work replicates the post-trauma dim, dusk tones of how things feel, but I am walking towards dawn.