Maren Curtis
Biography
Maren Curtis is a BFA candidate at the University of Colorado Boulder for printmaking. Her work documents the struggles of recovering from sexual assault and how that has impacted her life as a whole. Her work attempts to not only help compartmentalize the trauma of the event for herself, but also share a voice of commonality with other women who have been similarly affected.
Artist Statement
I used to use my artwork as a way to analyze my state of mind in general. It was a diary of my transition from adolescence to adulthood and never reached deeply into my trauma beyond a superficial point. When I was raped my freshman year of college, a lot of that changed. I went over a year without facing what had happened and when I did, my life became my assault. My thoughts and dreams became consumed with traumatic nightmares and fears that the people I loved the most would hurt me. My art suffered as well, for while I was trying to convey what I was feeling without explicitly talking about my assault, the work I was making became very vague and disconnected. Once I started to find more power in myself, making art about my recovery process followed. I wanted my work to become an outlet not only for me to reflect upon what I’d been through, but also for other women. I know that in time, the memories of my assault will become more bearable for me to carry, but I do not want to forget the pain of what I live through right now. I don’t want my assault to become more digestible with time; like a diary I want to be able to hear myself and feel the anguish I experience now in the future so I can stay angry for the women who will continue to suffer at the hands of predatory men.