Thyme James

“Masca” is a revision of a previous live performance recontextualised through the camera lens. The video performance concerns itself with domestic abuse, violence within the home and issues surrounding body image or dysmorphia. Lipstick is used as a medium, an item typically used as a tool for empowerment and transformation, disrupting notions of beauty and demonstrating some of the harsh realities hidden behind the veil of makeup.

As a result of the pandemic many women have been facing increased amounts of domestic abuse, having to stay at home with their assailant. This, alongside the lack of in-person interaction and support, which was replaced with phone calls and the internet, leads to increased isolation, vulnerability, and entrapment for women.

20% of all offences between April and June 2020 were domestic abuse related in England and Wales.

49% increase in calls to domestic abuse help lines within the UK.

In Scotland the demand for women’s services has increased by 30%, with a further 43% of service providers experiencing a change over the lockdown, many of which saw a decrease in the first few weeks before increases to or above pre-lockdown levels in April and March.