Titled Two-Faced, this installation focuses on the commonality of abuse and the effects of abusive relationships on the survivor. Their personal experience with an abusive relationship and the impact abuse has on so many people serve as the motivating factors for the body of work. The works exhibit the side abusers showcase to the world while the writings reveal how the abusers really are. Merging sculpture and text, they have written poems based on stories from peer survivors that have been willing to share their experiences through interviews. Each piece represents a story from a peer with a furniture piece that correlates with it. With all the survivors being peers of Saba, it brings light to how common abuse is and how easy it is to be connected to abuse without even knowing it.
They use furniture design to create the essence of home into the gallery. The intention of this body of work is for the viewers to interact with the furniture and poems by adding personal narratives concerning indirect and direct experiences with abuse and inviting them to give an anonymous response on their website to continue the effort in sharing survivors’ stories. The furniture pieces are fully functional, and made from a variety of materials such as steel, wood, ceramics, leather, and felt. From a distance, the piece and readability of the poems reflect how abuse is not seen from outside closed doors, but if looked at closely, then what really happened in the homes of those survivors will be revealed.
