Survivor Artist
The Story Behind the Painting
The Rescue represents the struggle through recovery and the aftermath of being a survivor of abuse, addiction, and trafficking, people often think about how difficult it is during one’s own war on trafficking and addiction”, unfortunately, afterwards people often lose sight of how demanding all the battles become after getting clean and becoming a survivor. Sometimes the battle gets even harder. The Rescue is the reminder to myself that in the darkness, I can find the light and colors, in all the pain and hurt that comes after trauma and tragedy, I can still break through time and time again. Because I have already won the hardest war of them all.
After the chaos of active addiction and trafficking, survivors are often faced with enormous mental health issues including but not limited too emotional damage, severe trauma, and PTSD, plus rigorous physical health concerns, and a long, demanding fight ahead of them to remain in that active state of recovery. And we are often doing it alone and unseen. The Rescue is also a painting for all the people in active recovery, facing a dark moment, it’s a reminder that the war has already been won and that even in this moment you can find the beauty, find the colors within the light, and stay.
Partnership to End Human Trafficking has taught me that there is life after active addition, that there is survival after trafficking, but most importantly for me, this program has shown me that even after the war had been won, there were still people willing to stand by me and fight the day to day battles I faced. Without my PEHT sisters, without my job at the PEHT Shop, I would be trapped in isolation, fighting the darkness alone, and I cannot positively say that without my support system, I would still be standing here today in the light. Because I truly believe in the greatest gift, we can give another person is nonjudgemental love, and when my PEHT sisters proudly stand beside me and lift me up saying, you got this, I believe that is the power of love changes everything. That is the true power of finally being rescued.
— Dark Sunflower, Survivor Artist