Visual Arts

Madeleine Steward

"Discarded"

For most of my childhood I was a gymnast. I started when I was very young, and at first I loved it. I don’t really remember those days though. What I do remember is feeling uncomfortable. Unsafe. Seeing the other girls stare at my body. Hearing the things one of our coaches would say to us.
Newspaper is something that is used and discarded, which reflects my experience. But even though we think we’ve moved past something, the fact is it still happened. Even when something has been discarded, it still exists.