I am Cătălina Nistor (b. 1981, Craiova) and I live and work in Cluj. My artistic practice brings to light taboos and clichés of thought through a critical and often self-ironic approach, addressing themes such as the experience of living, intimate life, anxieties and fears, and recent history. I reflect on and comment upon issues and attitudes related to society and ecological ethics through the media I work with. These take shape in small or large drawings, stitched drawings, paintings, public space interventions, artist’s books, and limited-edition publications. In 2019, I initiated a collaborative project—a contemporary drawing magazine composed of images, published without a title or any additional information. In 2023–2024, I organized a series of exhibitions in an alternative space in Cluj.
The drawings reproduced here are about a woman I met only briefly, and they are among my few works on this theme. I prefer to speak about violence against women, because in doing so I can reach more people, in different contexts, given that it is still a subject often avoided. I share my experiences with friends, acquaintances, or people I’ve met recently. Sometimes this opens things up: friends also share their experiences, or I learn more about how the issue is perceived.
It is very important that, when violence against women is discussed publicly, we call things by their name: verbal violence, physical violence or beating, workplace intimidation, sexual assault, rape. I say this because recently I started a conversation about sexual assault, recounting two attempted rapes, and my younger interlocutor tried to tell a “story” from his neighborhood, but could not bring himself to utter the word “rape.”
The subject of violence against women is taboo throughout society. Some pretend it barely exists, others are ashamed to put it into words, while women are afraid and ashamed to speak, because they don’t know whom they can trust.
