PAIGE MEGAN HAWLEY

Process, Stop. Photography Process: 14.8cm Stop 21cm x 29.7cm (both) £500 (for all) I used photographic film as a healing process, being in the darkroom helped me block out all the negativity and anxiety I was feeling with the aftermath of rape. I took a self portrait on 35mm film and developed the image, and hand printed it in black and white myself in the darkroom. I also used digital to photograph the scene where the rape happened, it was a time of trauma that I felt like I needed to face. Going back seemed like one of the hardest things to do, but also a hurdle I felt like I needed to take. I documented the aftermath during the court case hearing, this was the first initial "process", reflecting on not just processing photographic film in the darkroom, but my overall healing process. The concept of my images "STOP" were the photographs I took on digital, returning to the scene. This is quite a broad project, but I selected these images to submit because they relate to the title itself "Stop", and women who have been affected directly by gender based violence, I said no, his reply was "no means yes when it comes to women". This was the stop to my process visiting the scene, also the end, and new beginning turning it into a positive going forward. I have exhibited this project over ten years and women have come to me and told me their story, I think sometimes after seeing it visually, its never easy to talk about, but, if I can expose my story through this healing process I went through, and it helps other women who have been through similar, I hope they will always come to me and find courage to speak out. These projects expanded from this theme and lead onto many exhibitions, this is when I became interested in curation, and became the founder of Nasty Women London, which later lead onto Nasty Gallery, a platform for unrepresented women in the arts, and also a space for women to have a voice through a range of different art mediums worldwide. @paigemeganhawley @paigeartmodel @_nastygallery www.paigemeganhawley.com