Can I Trust You? Art as Activism

The second piece in Mikayla’s series, titled “Can I Trust You?”, continues her exploration of sexualised violence through expressive arts. In this painting, a young woman and a bear stand facing each other.

This artwork is inspired by a powerful question that has been circulating on social media: “Would you rather be alone in the woods with a bear or with a man?” For many women, the response is “A bear.”

Through this piece, Mikayla challenges viewers to confront the uncomfortable truth that for many women safety feels more certain in the presence of a wild animal than in the presence of men.

This harsh reality is reflected in the current statistics, it is estimated that one in three women in New Zealand will experience physical or sexual intimate partner violence in their lifetime. When psychological abuse is included (where economic harm sits), this statistic increases to one in two women (Fanslow et al., 2021).

The bear, a creature often seen as dangerous and unpredictable, becomes a symbol of something more trustworthy than the human threat many women have faced.

By placing a woman and a bear face-to-face, Mikayla invites viewers to consider:

What does it say about our world when the wild feels safer than the familiar? When trust is more easily given to the unknown than to those who claim to protect us?

Citation:

Fanslow, J., Hashemi, L., Malihi, Z., Gulliver, P., & McIntosh, T. (2021). Change in prevalence rates of physical and sexual intimate partner violence against women: data from two cross-sectional studies in New Zealand, 2003 and 2019. BMJ Open, 11(3), e044907. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044907