Hattie Billingham is a Monaghan based visual artist currently in her final year of a Bachelor of Arts, honors degree in Fine Art with a concentration in Glass at the National College of Art and Design, Ireland. Hattie’s current work explores the phenomenon of childhood trauma that is directly attributable to sexual abuse; and how this trauma manifests in adult mental health issues. Her work integrates a wide range of media including glass, clay, and wood, with some lighting elements. Hattie has exhibited her work internationally. Her most notable exhibitions include, Glass Ways, in the Czech Republic (2017); Glass Arts Society’s International Student Exhibition, Virginia, 2017 and the Glass Arts Society’s International Student Online Exhibition (2016) for which Hattie’s work Misfire was awarded first place in the undergraduate category.

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My research explores the phenomenon of childhood trauma that is directly attributable to sexual abuse; and how this trauma manifests into adult mental health conditions. According to psychology literature, one in four children under the age of eighteen in Ireland are sexually abused. Researchers have identified three common emotions experienced by children of sexual abuse to be guilt, shame and anxiety, following the traumatic event(s). In response to my research I have created a series of works that explores and convey these findings by manipulating childhood objects normally associated with ideologies of childhood innocence.

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The series One in Four, is designed using vintage children's toys and serves as a stark reminder of the frequency of the occurrence of childhood sexual abuse in contemporary Irish society. When researching the effects that sexual abuse had on mental health I explored the brain’s biological response to trauma. The work One in Four was created using imagery of neurons and lighting elements to portray the chaos of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The fabricated children’s play building block functions as an external vehicle to provide a view of an internal space. The internal space attempts to portray a visualization of a panic attack, as if the viewer is looking directly into the brain of a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.

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