Tuesday Night
Emily Beeman
Ovid, MI United States
Drawing: Graphite
This piece is about our desensitization to violence—violence towards nature, towards life, and towards women. The twisted, rotting bodies of deer litter our roads, and we’ve become so accustomed to their collective mutilation that it’s mistaken as normal: violence is normal. Similarly, the bodies of women litter every media outlet, spliced and twisted and readily discarded. To be is deer, to be a woman, is to navigate a world complacent in your abuse.
When I see deer, I see myself. I empathize with their fear, their vulnerability, but also, their ability to thrive. They find solace in their partners, their friends, the sunshine and the woods; despite danger, they carry out their lives, and find reasons to persevere.