Emma Weldon

Exploited Existence

Emma Weldon’s research explores how education and art therapy can assist in healing victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery. Weldon has identified twenty-five forms of contemporary slavery that can now be found in the USA, with a small percentages of victims ending up in Ireland. Believing that any effort to create awareness around the misery of modern day slavery is a step forward, she holds the art-therapy should be a compulsory state service available in all educational settings to promote awareness and to help victims to recover. In her art practice Weldon translates imagery of children into three-dimensional scenes conveying visual narratives that explore the different conditions and occupations those vulnerable children have become susceptible to. Her most recent exhibition, titled “Exploited Existence” consists of three miniature sets, each of which are designed to give their viewers an insight into the hidden agenda of many adults around the world.