This is absolute heresy.
This is absolute heresy.
Catharsis is an awareness campaign aimed towards survivors of abusive and estranged upbringings, creating a unique, cathartic experience in the form of writing, fantasy, and heroic storytelling, which also serves to contextualize this trauma for outsiders. The project specifically focuses on the experiences of children and queer children of immigrants.
The Catharsis zine features four distinct tales that recount the actual experiences of the campaign’s four participants, through the lens of fiction. This lens serves to protect the privacy of the participants, whilst putting into perspective the gravity of the scenarios. The photography segment exposes tangible sentiments of the true stories. The images are enough to give the reader a glimpse of what might have actually occurred, while still preserving the victims’ secrets. The ghost writer segment is a unique opinion article submitted by an anonymous participant.
A majority of the spreads are dark, with healing pastel accents and loose script that attempt to restore a loss of innocence. The final section of the zine features ornate stationary, with space to write and draw. Each header is a unique prompt that paints the victim in a heroic light.
The campaign film is set in a forest in a typical residential neighbourhood; forests being a common setting in fantasy and horror stories. The houses observed in the distance mark the boundary of this escape.
Soothing shots follow the central figure as they reflect on the stories being narrated. In the ending montage, as the victim sheds articles of winter clothing, they morph into illustrative depictions of the central props from the stories, to represent the overcoming of trauma.