Artists, survivors explore domestic violence in exhibit

Natasha Rodriguez and David Wolanski didn’t have much in common a few weeks ago.

Fast forward to now, however, and the two will forever be connected through the art they have produced to bring awareness to domestic violence.

Both have pieces of their work on display in an exhibit called “Still Waters” in the Dover Art League’s Holden Gallery. The exhibit is a look at domestic violence through the lens of a photographer and the canvas of a painter.

Each medium brings to life the emotions of an epidemic that has plagued communities across the United States. The artists say the name of the exhibit is a reference to the idea that you don’t know what’s really going on under the surface.

Wolanski said he was moved to do the project out of a sense of duty to try to change things when he saw that one in four women in the United States will experience domestic violence.

“I had to do something,” he said. “[Photography] is what I know best. I really wanted to give the survivors voices.”

So in January 2015, Wolanski began the project by reaching out through social media and his blog – Domestic Violence Around Us: One in Four is horrific – for women who would tell their stories of domestic violence and agree to be photographed. His goal is 100 women. The exhibit features the 15 women who “have been brave enough” to step forward, Wolanski said.

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The photographer was well into the project when he was asked to show his work at the Dover Art League. He reached out to Rodriguez not only because of the “raw emotions” seen in her paintings but also because she, too, is a survivor of domestic violence.

“It’s a big issue that needs to be brought to life,” Rodriguez said. “This project is therapeutic for me. It’s about bringing light to the many people we pass in the street who might be affected by domestic violence. For those who are going through it, there is hope.”

The one in four number Wolanski refers to as the genesis of this project is staggering. The number of incidents in Delaware shows that domestic violence is everywhere.

In 2015, there was a total of 22,678 combined criminal and non-criminal domestic violence incidents reported in the state, compared to 22,663 in 2014, according to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council 2015 Annual Report & Fatal Incident Review Tram Report.

Criminal domestic violence incidents are those in which a crime is committed or alleged. Non-criminal domestic violence incidents are those in which there is police contact, but no crime was alleged, e.g., a verbal argument without any threats.

Other statistics show just how much domestic violence is a part of everyday life: 30 percent of domestic violence incidents had prior police involvement; 36 percent of domestic violence incidents involved a violent act; 49 percent of domestic violence incidents resulted in an arrest; children were present in 34 percent of domestic violence incidents.

“When I was talking to people about this project, they said they didn’t have a friend who hasn’t been accosted, raped, beaten or even killed,” Wolanski said. “This effort is to take the statistics and put faces to the violence so people can see that it can happen to anyone.”

Dover Art League Gallery Curator and Manager Laura Mancuso says the exhibit has garnered positive comments from people who have been through the gallery.

"This is a first-of-its-kind exhibit here in the Holden Gallery," Mancuso said. "There is interest in this type of exhibit and we hope to have more like it in the future. We're hoping our art will be the voice for different causes."

The art, the artists

“Still Waters’ runs through October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and is set up as though you are walking through a crowd of people in a public setting, the artists said. It is meant to show that anyone we encounter could be the one in four women who are victims of domestic violence.

Wolanski has had a passion for photography since he was a boy, but in the past 10 years, that has morphed into being a serious photographer. “Still Waters” is the first exhibit of his work and in his words is the most important project he has undertaken.

“I had mixed reactions when I showed people the photographs,” he said. “Some said it was like going to the Holocaust Museum, while one person said it is a wall of hope. That’s what I wanted to accomplish.”

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Wolanski’s photographs are printed on newsprint with brief captions about the subject. He chose to display each survivor that way because in today’s world if it doesn’t make the news, it’s OK. “It isn’t OK,” he said.

For Rodriguez, the artwork on display in “Still Waters” is not only an outlet for what she has gone through as a victim and survivor of domestic violence – it also is a way of healing.

Her plight began when she was born into poverty with a drug addict father who was abusive to her and her mother, which led to her mother being abusive.

“It shaped my world,” the 36-year-old single mother of three said. “My father died of AIDS, so I had to grow up. I like to say it was my kids who saved me. I wanted to stop the abuse cycle.”

Rodriguez said the inspiration for one of the paintings in the exhibit came from her ex-husband raping her son.

“It was a lot to endure, but things happen for reasons we don’t understand,” she said. “The real winning is getting through this and being able to live and laugh, and to help people.”

While Wolanski’s photographs are placed on easels throughout the gallery, Rodriguez’s paintings line the walls. Many have poems or inspirational sayings next to them, said the artist, who has been “seriously” painting for 11 years. This is the first opportunity to show her work in a gallery setting.

“My father, when he was clean, was an amazing artist and photographer and guess that’s where I got my talent,” she said. “I want to use it for good and to help people. I wanted to bring paintings of strength and hope.”

For more details about “Still Waters” and other exhibits, visit www.doverartleague.org.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.