Portrait series

Recovering from trauma is not a linear process. Raadik has conceived of this series of photographs as a continuous stream as a way of creating a story of recovery from trauma, capturing her way through and perhaps beyond her states of mind. Although these photographs were not initially intended as art, Raadik decided that sharing her story was essential to this exhibition.

The psychological observations in this remarkable flow of images taken during a year of the woman’s life reveal a painful and challenging recovery of sorts accomplished through art. It can represent a way to take care of oneself and to fight back, a system of order, and an explanation of sorts. To reveal oneself as fully as the woman in this series has done also means to explain oneself to others. As the narrator of this story, the artist digs out the often painful truth that lies beyond the veneer of normality and respectability that we are expected to uphold in our daily lives. In this way, caring for the self needs not necessarily end in an act of consumption or object-making: this work demonstrates that self-care can be a practice or simply a state of mind. This installation also includes a textual fictionalized account of a young woman’s recovery based on the artist’s own observations and experiences, exploring psychological manipulation, harassment, violence, and the issue of reproductive health.