DENVER — Sexual assault is all too common – 1 in 2 women, 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 trans and nonbinary people will experience sexual assault.
For many, after an assault, it can be difficult to put into words the trauma they've experienced. So survivors in Denver are finding a path to healing through art.
"I wanted to do it for myself. I wanted to be heard. I wanted to be seen. I wanted to be understood," said Tlalli, a sexual assault survivor and RISE featured artist.
As a survivor of sexual assault, Tlalli asked 9NEWS not to share her last name. When it comes to creating art, she puts her heart into every piece.
"Every day I look forward to painting it," Tlalli said. "Every single day."
With every brushstroke, she transforms the canvas. "So I've been working on this piece for about five months," Tlalli said.
The piece she works on so carefully she said symbolizes so much of herself.
"And I think that just being able to paint this fish means a lot to me because it shows how much I've grown over the years. Not only as an artist but as a person, like growing to understand who I am, especially after my sexual assault," she said. "I always felt like, a lot like the fish, like I was neglected, I was not loved properly."
Her sexual assault is hard to talk about, hard to put what happened to her into words. So she puts it into her painting.
"I put my most vulnerable scars on top of it because if I can't put my pain into words then I want to show it," Tlalli said.
"As painful and as hard as it is and uncomfortable, that vulnerability is really actually powerful," said Jenn Merz Colorqueen, RISE co-founder and local artist.
Merz Colorqueen helped to create the RISE art show with the Blue Bench. Now in its third year, the exhibit houses a collection of art made by survivors of sexual assault.
"I have an installation piece that is very vulnerable but has been a tremendous help. And I feel like once this is over, I think she – my eight-year-old little self - will feel safe and protected finally," Merz Colorqueen said.
"To give space to survivors to interpret their pain is one of the most powerful things we can do," said Megan Carvajal, executive director at the Blue Bench.
Carvajal said these works of art are helping to heal.
"Guests came up and told us that they had never disclosed what had happened to them when they were younger and that the art show was giving them a voice to be able to do that," Carvajal said. "We are able to do this as survivors, we are able to do this as artists, we are able to show what we want to tell the most."
Through her work, Tlalli shares the stories she once kept buried. She's hopeful the art here helps other survivors find a path forward, just as it does for her.
"But I really hope that the people who come here walk away with hope, walk away with a better understanding, walk away with not feeling so alone," Tlalli said.
The RISE art show will be held at RemainReal Fine Art Gallery in Denver at 901 Santa Fe Dr., Denver, CO 80204 from April 5-28.
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