This month, The Dazed Gallery hosts an exhibition by Kaori Ando, an artist who seeks to "re-ignite" our understanding of child abuse by focusing on the profound social isolation suffered by its victims. Herself a childhood victim of physical and mental abuse, Ando's work seeks to pull focus away from the mass media's common representations of child abuse and remind us that the most common forms generally take place within the family structure. Her work has a fundamentally unsettling feel, placing the viewer in the deeply uncomfortable role of voyeur to scenes of loneliness, vulnerability and despair. All proceeds from sales of the work will be donated to recognised children's charities. Below is a statement from the artist... 

"My work is about child abuse that happens in the home. Our society has become almost completely de-sensitized to the realities of the subject. Our tabloid culture, and a plethora of generic imagery, has, over time, taken the onus away from the common abuse that occurs within the family home, and has preferred instead to put the editorial emphasis on shadowy, faceless demons. As such, the media as a whole is collectively complicit in negating any real understanding of those who have suffered abuse from those closest to them – instead allowing them to become outsiders in a society where they often feel unable to talk about, or come to terms with, what has happened to them. In order to re-ignite our understanding of the extreme sadness and damage of abuse I have used models, much like those used by psychoanalysts when they have the difficult job of asking young victims exactly what they have been through. The eerie tension between the innocence of the doll house, the soft pastel colours and the scenes depicted creates a profound sense loneliness and loss – which brings to life the subject in unfamiliar, and I believe more real, ways. Also, the voyeuristic point of view draws us into a concealed world as a kind of spy where we are forced to wonder what is going on in the minds of both abuser and abused. It's my hope that this unsettling experience helps us to reconsider the experience of child abuse with more empathy for the abused and hammers home the truth that most abuse happens in a pseudo-loving environment.

The exhibition runs from February 7 – March 5. For more information contact johnpaul@dazedgroup.com