On the 17th November my first solo exhibition The Red Shoe opened in Paris at La Cité Audacieuse, a former boys school and now the headquarters of La Fondation des Femmes. This series of work addresses the plague that are domestic violence and femicide by intimate partner. The paintings and photographs on show, were created between Autumn 2022 and Autumn 2025.

Fifty people were invited to the private view and our friends, fellow artists and family braved the cold wintery evening to see my work and hear why I made this series of works about domestic violence and femicide by intimate partner. My presentation speech below, explains why I am concerned by domestic violence, despite never having been a victim myself.

CITE A – SPEECH – NOVEMBER 17, 2025.

INTRODUCTION.

Good evening and welcome to the Cité Audacieuse, the headquarters of the Fondation des Femmes.

The foundation defends women’s rights and fights against domestic violence.

Tonight and for the next two weeks, the foundation is generously lending me the walls of this room, which is also a café and coworking space. I thank the Foundation for this opportunity, the team in charge of events and the café team for your help.

Why does my art address and denounce femicide by intimate partner?

In September 2022, I began my studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Versailles to fulfil, admittedly a bit late in life, a  teenage dream.

A few days before I started art school, on September 16, 2022, a young Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, was arrested by the “morality police” because her headscarf was improperly adjusted. She was beaten to death.

The announcement of her death sparked numerous protests across the country and this tragic event marked the beginning of the Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran.

I know a little about Iran because my father worked there before the revolution, and I spent some holidays there. The murder of this young woman deeply affected me, and I felt the need to express my sorrow and anger through my art.

That said, I didn’t understand why this story of violence made me so angry, especially since I myself have never been a victim of violence.

I knew that my older sister had lived with an abusive man for two years, risking her life, but at that time I was already living in France and hadn’t witnessed the violence. My connection to the subject seemed tenuous to me.

But when I spoke to my sister about it, I discovered that several women, across generations in my family in England, had been victims of violence and had had no choice but to live with it. To live with bruises, broken arms, depression and resulting suicide attempts.

That’s when I understood that I had inherited this family history, without being consciously aware of these family secrets. Fortunately, the legacy of violence ended with me, and I have the opportunity to talk about it through my work as an artist”.

Why The Red Shoe?

The series of works, The Red Shoe, which I’m presenting to you tonight, began with the painting to my right, #Femicide I. One of our professors in art school suggested we paint a nighttime scene to explore chiaroscuro.

I created this scene, a path leading into a dark forest, and I searched for an idea to incorporate this image into my project on femicide. I had the idea to paint my red shoes, the shoes I’m wearing tonight.

These abandoned red shoes raise questions for the viewer. They are clearly a woman’s shoes. Why did she lose them? What has happened to her?

Since 2022, I have continued to develop this theme by creating a series of work featuring my red shoes.

Conclusion.

Femicides by partners or ex-partners are a plague in France, in Europe, and throughout the world—a plague that is not recognised as such. Two to three women are murdered every week in France. From January 1st to November 12th, 140 women died in France at the hands of their partners. The number of femicides is not decreasing; it is increasing.

You have probably heard of the hashtag #notallmen.

Of course, not all men are violent, jealous, or possessive. Tonight I see many men here—longtime friends, more recent friends, men in my family—all, I believe, are good men.

Domestic violence is not just a women’s problem. It is a problem for all of us. And to reduce violence against women, I think men must also get involved to stop the misogynistic behaviour of their friends or colleagues.

Finally …

Thank you for coming in such large numbers this evening to support me. You know that activism and this exhibition are extremely important to me. Your presence here means the world to me.

Our daughter Samantha who is a web designer, aka Aspen Creative Studio, made this short video of the evening.

The Red Shoe exhibition will be on show from 17 Nov to 29 Nov. If you’re in Paris, drop into the Les Audacieuse Café to see the exhibition. The café is open Wednesday to Saturday, at 9, Rue Vaugirard, 75006, Paris.

You can donate to the Fondation des Femmes here.