HONOURING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JEANIE JONES

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of our friend and sister CSA survivor artist, Jeanie Jones, who died in June.

Jeanie was a warm, kind, funny and rebellious woman who embodied the meaning of survival, to live over and beyond what had happened to her. 

We were honoured to exhibit Jeanie's work Amazing Resilience and Supply and Demand at our Gloucester UpFront Survivors Pop-Up event in March this year and to commission her work DEFEATED for the first Beyond Therapy Festival in May 2022. 

Artistic Director Viv Gordon says "I first saw Jeanie's work in 2017 at the Amazing Survivor exhibition at the former Colston Hall, curated by the Southmead Project. I vividly remember walking into a darkened space where one of her wire and latex figures was exhibited lying, hands bound on a dirty mattress. It took my breath away. Jeanie's work perfectly evoked the fragility of childhood, the isolation and humiliation of abuse. Her work was bold, tender and defiant in a way that both moved me deeply and gave me courage."

The words Jeanie chose to accompany her sculptural work show a fierce intelligence and a passion for social justice. Writing in 2022 she says "My art is about what happens when you're abused. It comes from an unconscious place, from memory stored in my body – a place where there are no words. The sculptures have moveable armature to show how others own a child’s body and dictate what it does. They are frozen and powerless –  forced to abandon themselves in order to survive these ordeals. My work is about what it's like to seek justice and fail. And to have the abusers words come true "No one will believe you.”"

Anyone who sees Jeanie's art believes her. It speaks loudly and clearly with a political surety about our status as survivors.

We celebrate her life and her stunning contribution to the movement.

We send love and solidarity to her nearest and dearest and deep gratitude for their permission to write this and to explore future sharing of her work.

​Thank you Jeanie. Your life mattered greatly 🩷