Student's Stunning Art Project About The Aftermath Of Sexual Assault Goes Viral

Her work is having a huge impact on people

A college student’s incredible art project about sexual assault went viral this week for good reason. It focuses on the aftermath of sexual assault and to say it’s thought-provoking is a huge understatement.

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Emma Krenzer is a nineteen-year-old student at Nebraska Wesleyan University and for a recent art class assignment, she made something that was both cathartic for her and impactful for those viewing it. Krenzer told BuzzFeed, “I made this project largely for myself to actually visualize the lasting impact that touch can have on an individual.”

She finished her masterpiece the night of the Women’s March on Washington and tweeted photos of the result a few days later, where it quickly went viral. The images have been retweeted over 127,000 times so far.

Krenzer writes, “The prompt for this project was to create some sort of map. I created a map of human touch on another human’s body and its lasting impact.”

She explains to BuzzFeed that to create her piece, she took a photo of a friend and then finger-painted over a life-sized printout of the image.

The legend explains the touches each color represents. Most notably, the color red is where she was touched by “someone I told no.”

Wow.

The overall effect is stunning, to say the least.

Of creating her project, Krenzer says, “I thought about what was true for myself, and also, what I perceived to be commonly true for people in general, when I mapped out these touches.”

Twitter was a big fan of Krenzer’s emotionally raw artwork.

Krenzer is understandably overwhelmed by the response to her work. “Some people told me they burst into tears after viewing the piece and others thanked me repeatedly for creating it. I really don’t have the words to describe how it makes me feel.” When asked why she thinks her art resonates so much with others she says, “I think the openness and vulnerability of it is allowing other people to make themselves open and vulnerable as well.”

She nailed it. Sometimes, it’s hard to put into words or even allow in thoughts about an experience with sexual assault, so seeing it conveyed in such a raw and beautiful way can hit home. And even help begin the healing process.

Krenzer says she plans to make a larger series and judging by the reception of her first installation, we have no doubt she’ll continue to impact others with her talent.