‘To be Brave: Ending Body Shame’

A Seattle-based artist has taken on the task of ending body shame by painting expressive portraits.

MHCC’s Diversity Resource Center is featuring paintings by the artist, Chloe Allred, to celebrate Women’s History month and Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The exhibit is titled, “To be Brave: Ending Body Shame.”

Explained Allred, “This series evolved from a previous project, ‘Loss, Recovery, Transcendence.’ In this project, I used the self-portrait as a way to address my experiences with anorexia, bulimia, and sexual assault.

“It was important to address my story openly. Painting gave me a way of reclaiming my body image and seeing myself with kindness, rather than judgment. In response to this work, other women began telling me their stories of survival. I realized I could use my art practice to tell the stories of other women and show their intense bravery, vulnerability, and beauty,” she said.

“I created this series because sexual assault and eating disorders are incredibly harmful and common, yet are often not talked about. I created this series to demonstrate to other survivors that they are not alone,” she said

Allred will be hosting a workshop on self-portraits as well as speaking about her work, from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Monday in the Jazz Cafe.

The workshop is free, and materials will be provided.

“In this workshop, we will be creating self-portraits. I will demonstrate various drawing techniques, including blind contour,” Allred said. “The self-portrait has been an important tool in my art practice. It forces you to slowly examine your form, rather than quickly make a judgment about yourself. My goal is for students to create a portrait where they are seeing themselves with kindness, the same kindness that they would show towards a friend.”

Allred said she came up with the idea for the workshop, and that she is “excited to work with college students and show them some of the tools that I use in my own practice.”

The artist said she discovered painting during her second year attending the Cornish College of the Arts, but that she’s always enjoyed drawing and couldn’t remember a time when “art wasn’t central in (my) life.” She said she finds painting challenging, and has been obsessed with it ever since.

“Quite simply, I love to paint. That’s basically why they are paintings and not drawings, or sculptures. I think my love of the medium brings something to it,” Allred said of her work, “I also love oil, but I don’t love the fumes, so I work in acrylic.”