Digital Paintings

Juana was a very happy girl in southern Mexico. At the age of fifteen, she is preparing her wedding with a man twice her age, due to old traditions in her community that are still somewhat archaic and wrong, especially regarding the value of women.
Time has passed in the blink of an eye, Juana has normalized physical, verbal, sexual, economic and psychological abuse without noticing it. Juana's husband would be a fugitive from justice for some time, due to the suspicion of his participation in the escape of some prisoners, in the prison where he worked. Leaving her unprotected and without any way to provide for her children. This would lead her to start a trip to the neighboring country with the help of a "coyote", with the hope of generating enough income to give to her family a better chance of life in Mexico.
In the United States, Juana with a lot of sacrifice works long hours and although she does not know English or how to read and write, she always finds a way to solve her problems. In the following years Juana ignores the racism and discrimination that she experiences every day. Years after giving her abuser a second chance to live together now in America, his abuse and infidelities are still part of their relationship. One afternoon, after a fight, Juana leaves the house and when she returns she discovers that her aggressor has mistakenly taken the life of her brother, thinking that he was her lover.
After she reported this event to the authorities in 2018, Juana began to work on her legal stay in this country and to heal through self-help and therapy groups. Her hope is to live in a world where no other woman has to experience even a bit of what her eyes saw, or what the memory of her skin could tell the world.

Jalisco is the place that saw the birth of the tenth of eleven children, Marbarita. The first years of her life she remembers warmly until the age of fourteen, which is when her mother passes away. By deeply rooted traditions in Mexican society, Marbarita discovers that the only way to live independently is through marriage and is forced to start a relationship with her first aggressor and two years later she would find herself marrying him. Marbarita feels in love for the first time and seeks to trust what she feels.

At the age of twenty-four, Marbarita is holding her first child and although nervous, she is accompanied by a "coyote" to cross to San Diego and then travel to where her future home would be; Los Angeles. This risk would give her the security of a better quality of life for her and her son and the possibility of being close to her partner. During the next three years her life would be divided between Laredo and Los Angeles, now with two children and the rejection of her partner and the increasing situations of physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse due to his dependence on alcohol and drugs. Unfortunately, in many families in Latin America, the belief that a woman must adapt to the needs of her partner and tolerate different forms of abuse is very popular since divorce is not an option. However, this relationship would end not long after.

As time passed, she would meet her second aggressor and they would begin a life together with her children. At first, everything seemed to work, although little by little certain patterns that she once lived with began to become clear. This time she finds more support in her community, encouraging her to get out of that situation. After much sacrifice, Marbarita now has a secure job, she is an independent woman with better opportunities to offer her children and with much more love for herself.

Fabiola was the eldest daughter of eight children in what seemed like a fairly functional and successful family, her story begins in Colima. From a very young age, Fabiola perceives the dynamics at home as intolerable, but since she don’t know how the treatment is between other children and their parents, there is no way for her to know that she is experiencing sexual abuse and that it is not normal or correct. Her mother is afraid to confront her husband and confront his actions of torture and sadism, perhaps for fear of losing the economic security that he offers them.

At the age of twenty-three, she has been living in Guadalajara for about eight years, trying to find ways to open the door to her independence. During this time she is responsible for her siblings and secretly studies to become an Accountant. A couple of years later she arrives in California, where after a month of meeting who would be her aggressor, she agrees to marry him. Although at first this adventure seemed like an opportunity for Fabiola to finally find her happiness and create her own family, life doesn’t take long to show her that her partner has not been honest with her about her past and that she is now under his control. A couple of years later, Fabiola is still struggling to get her life back. More than once her partner seems to abuse her trust, stealing her savings and controlling every detail of her life. She doesn’t know that she has rights, and this knowledge becomes the weapon that her partner use to threat her on a daily basis. Because the last time Fabiola crossed the border was illegal and after that, he took all her official documents from her. "Deportation" means to her, to be exiled to a country where she no longer belongs and only brings back painful memories, this word means to her not being able to see her children grow up.

Years later, she found a shelter dedicated for women who have experienced domestic violence. This shelter would guide her to the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles, a place where she would find more stories like hers and that would give her the possibility of recovering her official identification documents. It has been a long road for her to be able to forgive herself and her aggressors. Fabiola has developed better self-esteem, and has trained tirelessly as a counselor for other women who have experienced domestic violence. With the support of her two sons, who are now young men preparing academically, one to be a doctor and the other a lawyer, she invites other women out of cycles of domestic violence by example, reminding them that “yes, you can get ahead, look at me… I'm here".

Araceli was the oldest of four girls in a family back in Durango, Mx. At the age of 15, she arrived in the United States with her mother, and twenty-eight years after her arrival, Araceli does not realize that she is repeating certain patterns that she saw before with her mother. Passive-aggressive actions flow from her over and over again, now in her second marriage. Considering a second divorce was not an option and recurring thoughts of destabilizing her children financially and emotionally haunted her.

Because of this, Araceli needed more than one attempt to get out of the cycle of domestic violence in which she was subjected to live. Where the verbal, physical, emotional, psychological and economic abuse that she experienced was normalized. Araceli's story is very particular, since her partner was willing to take therapy and heal what was afflicting him. The path they have had to take in order to lead a happier and healthier family life has not been easy, but now they work on it together.

Today Araceli can decide for herself, she is aware of her actions and is able to identify what she feels, she is a woman who discovered her courage and her voice.

During Teodora's childhood in Guerrero, Mx. Her mother was the role model for her five siblings and her. However, from an early age she can see the physical abuse that her father inflicts on her mother, especially out of jealousy. Teodora is a good student and this will lead her to become a Pharmacist-Biologist Chemist in the future.

At the age of sixteen, she meets her attacker who is twice her age and is a preacher in her community. Time has passed and five years after starting a relationship with her attacker, it is clear for her that she is living in a situation of domestic violence. Although for her it is a sacrifice that she makes with love due to her spirituality. Even when she feels trapped in a situation of slavery experiencing emotional, psychological, sexual, economic and physical abuse. By 2018, the injuries to Teodora's body are very difficult to bear or hide. Because of this she accelerates her steps towards her freedom, understanding that waiting would only bring her death.

Today Teodora is still healing her body, fighting, studying and raising her voice like the born leader that she is with a better self-esteem and renewed strength.

Josefina is the most sensitive of eight children, in a family back in Guadalajara, Mx. She is an anxious and a little fearful girl. Although, she does not hesitate when celebrating as a family by dancing and singing, music brings joy to her life.

Between the age of eighteen or nineteen, Josefina is in the United States. It is in this country where everything is new and exciting, that she meets her aggressor and the future father of her children. It seems that in the blink of an eye, five years have passed since Josefina began a life with her partner and it is in this year that verbal abuse escalates to physical abuse.

Almost a decade later, Josefina cannot understand what has changed and why things cannot be the way they were before. It is very difficult for her to see that she experiences physical, sexual, verbal and psychological abuse and she is not able to understand why she still loves her abuser. During this point in her life, Josefina begins to notice that her self-esteem is not the same and that, for example, music brings pain instead of happiness. Fortunately, her children provide her with the support that she so badly needs, encouraging her to take the step to freedom and regain control of her life.

One afternoon after a fight at home, it is time to close that episode in her life and although it is painful, she successfully gains her freedom. Josefina's path to independence has just begun, her physical and mental health has been one of the greatest challenges to work on. However, Josefina can notice in her a change in the way she communicates what she feels and spends more time in what helps her to be happy. She seeks to inspire other people, especially women, not to normalize acts of abuse or live in fear.

Nancy's first memories begin in Guadalajara, Mx. with her mother and sister. Her father will not appear even in conversations, making her stepfather her only father figure. The first years of her childhood are times, although warm, very difficult for her. Where regaining a sense of trust and security is put to the test after experiencing sexual abuse by someone close to her family.

A month before she turned 16, her sister would become her guide by bringing her to the United States with her. Four years later she would meet her second aggressor. Soon after, her daughter is born and unfortunately in this new relationship, Nancy does not know that she would experience almost all the types of abuse found in domestic violence. Fortunately, having her sister by her side would be one of the most important factors in the transition to a new chapter in her life and the greatest support to get out of the denial in which Nancy found herself. This last relationship would leave invisible scars for the human eye, that are still in the healing process. But she has managed to forgive and close family cycles, by giving herself the opportunity to see the world with new eyes. Nancy now recognizes the internal power in each human being to get out of any problem, she calls it "the essence or spark" that as long as you don’t let it go, it can ignite your chest with motivation in the face of any adversity.

Hermelinda begins her story in Toluca, living the first five years of her life in the company of her grandparents. At the age of seven she moves in with her mother and begins her academic life, during this time she doesn’t understand why her mother is so hard on her.

At fifteen, after a lot of her mother’s pressure, Hermelinda marry and gave birth to her first daughter, a beautiful girl with a solvable problem in her hip. During the following years Hermelinda experiences a lot of abuse from her partner and her mother, who supports and encourages every punch that he gives to her.

Time has passed and Hermelinda is twenty-three years old. Hermelinda has survived a gang rape, kidnapping and daily abuse by her partner who doesn't seem to stop at anything. However, Hermelinda takes the initiative to flee to Tijuana, she has heard through a preacher in her church that there is a resource waiting for her, to give the surgery that her daughter needs and restore the mobility her hip. During this process Hermelinda is referred to a hospital in Los Angeles, that can give her daughter the opportunity for a better quality of life at no cost to her. It is during this stage that Hermelinda would meet her second aggressor, someone who appeared to have good intentions in helping a single mother in need.

In the blink of an eye, the years have passed and Hermelinda now has two children with him, after eight months in the relationship she can perceive that something is not right. For her, the fear of being deported, losing her home and taking away the protection that she has offered her children with great sacrifice, made her go through the many infidelities and the physical, sexual and psychological abuse that her partner gave her. A short time later, Hermelinda unfortunately discovers that her eldest daughter has suffered the same treatment from him. What makes her take the decision to hide her daughters in Mexico, because she was under death threats from her partner, so she wouldn’t share the details of abuse to the authorities. Hermelinda fights for years to regain her freedom and independence, enduring racism and discrimination from her employers and healing her mental health with self-help groups or therapy. Currently, she is an empowered woman, who feels capable of guiding other women who have gone through what she once lived. Hermelinda seeks to inspire other women to put fear aside and move forward, since in her experience "there is always something to fight for, something to live for".

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