VOICES

Cat Del Buono has spent the past few years interviewing domestic violence survivors at shelters in Miami, Hartford, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. After filming only their mouths to keep the women anonymous, Del Buono created an installation of multiple small monitors with the lips of the survivors speaking of their personal experience. When viewers walk into the exhibit, the multiple voices create a symphony of unrecognizable words. Only when you approach an individual monitor do you hear their personal and traumatic stories and how they have gotten out of their situations. The necessity of this movement on the part of viewers acts as a metaphor: only when one gets close do they learn of the individual's traumatic experiences. As a society, we must not allow the epidemic of domestic violence and those who are affected by it to remain an invisible, inaudible crowd of statistics.

 

Voices has been showing in select cities. Most recently at Microscope Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, Bronx Museum, Winthrop University,  Art Palm Beach, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Miami. Most exhibits are accompanied by a panel discussion open to the public. While at MoCA Miami, local NPR radio host Bonnie Berman moderated the panel consisting of domestic abuse survivor, a local advocate, teen violence advocate, the museum's director of international programs, and Del Buono.

 

The goal for this project is to reach a larger audience with a national tour of the exhibit and panel discussions in each city. Del Buono believes a conversation with communities can help bring about awareness and help stop this epidemic. Donations can be made through Art For Progress.

 

More works by Cat Del Buono can be seen at catdelbuono.com