Under the covers
Jennifer Weston
Some children have a lovely, cosy bedroom.
Some children don’t.
Some children are more at risk than others.
Some children are attacked in their own home.
Some children dare not sleep because they know what is coming.
Some children live in fear.
Some children will be blamed from the wrong doings of others.
Some children dare not tell anyone.
Some children will not be believed.
Some children will suffer from PTSD all their lives.
Some children will die at the hands of adults who are supposed to love them.
There can be no equality when some children suffer from gender-based violence.
There can be no equality when some children spend their whole life striving to heal from the crime of incest.
There can be no equality when some children are psychologically damaged so young, they spilt their personalities in half.
There can be no equality when some children have their innocence snatched from them in a way that destroys their ability to trust forever.
Under the Covers serves to highlight the issues of children experiencing the hidden crimes of violence in the home. The lockdowns 2020-21 exacerbated the problems for families and cases of domestic violence soared.
The idea for this semi-autobiographical work started in winter 2018 with seeing so many dirty, lost children’s gloves on the pavement. The sight was forlorn, pitiful, and triggering. I would pick up these dirty bedraggled items to give the misplaced mittens purpose again and the gloves came to symbolize the lost children whose hands went cold and whose comfort needs were not met.
The gloves highlight loss—innocence, safety, and trust— while the string links the trauma to other traumatized children as they find each other as adults and try to make sense of their past. The children who suffered through no fault of their own. The dirty, stained duvet is tainted by malicious, inappropriate events.
More about Jennifer’s work here
Under the Covers, 2018–21. Mixed Textiles.