Suspended

Suspended explores love in the context of coercive control, a form of family violence that quietly strips away freedom, voice, and identity.

The marionette figure, suspended by strings and without a head, represents the loss of agency experienced under coercive control. When autonomy is removed, even love itself can be manipulated and used as a tool of power.

By presenting the figure as a puppet, the work makes visible what is often hidden behind closed doors. The absence of a head underscores the erasure of selfhood and choice, revealing coercive control not only as a private experience but as a broader social issue, one reinforced by systems that rely on silence and submission.

Created for the Love in Crisis theme of the Merri-bek Summer Show, Suspended asks how we can stand together in divided times. Alongside the work was a QR code linking to a petition calling for coercive control to be recognised as a crime in Victoria, extending the work beyond the gallery space and turning art into activism, into action.