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Spoilage: Speaking Up for Children of Drug Addicts By Bernadine Fox BFA (with Avy Crowchild) ____________________________________________
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EXHIBITION By: Bernadine Fox BFA "powerful, moving, disturbing" (Charles) Bernadine Fox is a visual artist and writer with a BFA from Emily Carr who is raising her daughter’s child due to drug addiction. She recently took the Provincial Government to the Human Rights Tribunal in a precedent-setting case over how the Ministry of Family and Child Services is abdicating their responsibility to these children and, therefore, causing unnecessary re-victimization. For those invested with the power to protect children, drug addiction, trafficking, or manufacturing does not seem to equate to a child at risk (other than in Alberta) despite the fact that they are living in grow-ops full of mould and pesticides, exposed to toxic chemicals in meth labs, or a violent drug culture in general. In our attempt to create a culture of tolerance around substance abuse, society has come to view it as a disease as opposed to a criminal act. Those in power hope that the research that is guiding Vancouver is valid and that their efforts will reap benefits. There is little doubt that Harm Reduction Programs are saving lives. However, Vancouver’s Four Pillars Program has one notable oversight: the drug addict’s child. While their addicted parents are offered a multitude of services such as needles, injection sites, and free treatment, there are few to no services for their children who are literally being prepped to become the next generation of addicts. Fox was present with her daughter and her 18 month-old baby when a seasoned, methadone clinic doctor quietly informed us that her last random drug test was positive for PCP’s, ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana. He advised her that he could "lose" this test and give her another "random" drug test the following week. Although he then took great measures to ensure she passed her next test this doctor, empowered with a fiduciary duty to report suspected child abuse/neglect, never contacted Social Services to alert them that her baby may be at risk. This was just one experience of many that she witnessed where her granddaughter’s needs took a back seat to her drug-addicted mother’s when it came to harm reduction programs. This child is not alone. Grandparents are raising approximately ten thousand (10,000) children in BC alone – mostly due to drug addiction. In fact, there are more children being raised by their grandparent than in the current foster care system. The infant mortality rate for children of drug addicts are two and one half (2.5) times higher than the general population. And if they survive toddlerhood, these children suffer from the consequences of being exposed to drugs and its culture: prenatally, postnatally, and beyond. In this art exhibit, Fox allows the message to determine the medium and as such it includes mixed media, painting, assemblage, photography, interactive art, and text along with pieces that encompass sounds and smells. There are twenty-some pieces of varying sizes and mediums. Roll of the Dice: Your Turn allows audience members to physically interact with a game of chance or luck that replicates the criteria that dictates whether one child’s life is a happy safe one and one that is not. A soothing lullaby emanating from a crib mobile becomes a haunting sound when one gets near and realizes that drug paraphernalia hangs alongside bright baby items. A nine-foot-by-four foot painting, The Family Way, recreates a 1957 photography of one family. The graffiti-like text recounts what has happened to each of these "happy" family members (mom, dad, and three young children) during the last fifty some years. Based on a true story, the fallout from the drug and alcohol abuse of the parents becomes not just evident, but profound. An altered storybook, Nana & The Kali-Alley Kitty recounts a compelling true story of a three-year-old child who is concerned for her drug-addicted mother who has been missing for nine months. In It’s Just a Party, glasses filled with liquor are located on top of children’s play blocks. Mommy and Me Kit is a reminiscent of the types of "works" kits put together by addicts except this one also includes a hypodermic needle from a child’s play set. While not disputing the importance of harm reduction, in this exhibition Fox speaks out for those who are too often incur the consequences of those very programmes and become its collateral damage or Spoilage: the drug addict's child. It clearly states that if we continue to ignore the impact of their parent’s drug addiction on these children – then it stands to reason that those very children incur the consequences. Spoilage ensures the viewer’s vantage point is squarely on the child. Comments from guestbook:
Below are some pieces from this exhibition:
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