A body-painting exhibition in Footscray has cast a light on the complex issue of domestic violence.
If These Walls Could Talk was created at VU Metrowest on Monday night by almost 100 Victoria University students using body paint to blend 20 models into a background of intricate wallpaper panels.
Each model was painted by a team of students over a six-hour period.
Creative director Sam Pattison said having the models fade into the background of the wallpaper symbolised society’s silencing of the estimated one in six women who experience domestic violence in Australia.
Ms Pattison said the aim of the exhibition was to show the fear, shame and lack of having a voice felt by women experiencing domestic violence.
“Discovering that intimate-partner violence is the most common type of violence against women was a real revelation,” she said.
“We wanted to help raise awareness of this issue and the exhibition is our students’ way of making a statement.”
Money raised on Monday night has gone to support the White Ribbon campaign to end men’s violence against women.
