Philippa Lysaght and Omi McCurdie are the women behind a powerful new artwork turning heads in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, bringing the urgency of Australia’s domestic violence crisis into the national conversation.
Their artwork, Sweethearts, features 56 concrete sweetheart lolly sculptures, each with one of 20 phrases that are commonly used — often by men— to excuse, minimise or shift blame when it comes to domestic violence.
The hearts represent the women who have been killed by their former or current partner this year. It’s on display at Marks Park between Bondi and Tamarama beaches in this year’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition
Philippa Lysaght, who has a professional background in advocacy and humanitarian work with the UN, said she had been working overseas when she returned to Australia and was shocked at how bad violence against women is here.
“Where the gap really was for me is, how are we engaging the peers of perpetrators?” Lysaght tells Women’s Agenda. “How are we engaging the guy that’s sitting next to the other guy in the pub? And why isn’t he speaking up?
“I really wanted to do something that calls out the role that we all play in enabling violence by not speaking up, by not calling it out.”
“She coulda left”: the phrases that minimise violence against women
The hearts have phrases like “he was drunk”, “only words”, “boys will be boys”, “2 way street” and “asked for it”.
“She coulda left”, “barely pushed her’ and “not our place” also feature. They were chosen after consultation with those working on the frontline and women’s shelters.
Artist Omi McCurdie says she also wanted young women to see and engage with the work, and to know that this kind of language is not normal or acceptable in romantic relationships.
“I want young women who are entering relationships for the first time to understand that it’s not normal to be spoken to like that,’ McCurdie said.
“I had a woman come up to me and tell me thank you so much because she had somebody that was suffering from that in her life.”
Both women say they have been incredibly moved by the response to the artwork. They’ve seen people become emotional while taking in the work, others have been confused before they realise what the work is about.
“This idea of the sweetheart candy is really having something that from afar looks kind of playful and cute. These pastel colored hearts, and we’ve all seen them before,” Lysaght says.
“Even if just one person, instead of saying ‘she should have left,’ next time says, ‘Actually, that’s abuse and that’s not okay,’ and starts to call it out… that’s really what success is for us.”
“We’re just trying to recognise that this is a national issue and the role that we play within it, and also just to recognise the work of the broader sector and the big and small actions that anyone can take.”
Any profits made from the sale of the artworks will be donated to Women’s Community Shelters.