Creating the artwork

For me it was important to really understand all the issues involved so that I can create artwork that truly reflects the debate. 

This means reading heaps of articles, press releases etc. 

During this process I start to form some visuals in my mind as to how I might represent the arguments.

To me, it seemed that the term 'human trafficking' has become really weighed down by definitions and counter-definitions. There are so many different opinions, which have also become caught up in historical precidents -The Atlantic Slave Trade, the Victorian Social Purity/anti-vice movements and White Slavery fears.
I became interested in showing how the burden of argument and history has led to the actual subject of human trafficking, the people involved, being marginalised. Everyone, often with the best of intentions wants to adopt the 'trafficked' to their cause but the tension this has created makes remedies impossible.

I build my artwork by collecing found images and ephemera from the past and in the media today. I wanted to use the historical and the contemporary to demonstrate the burdens placed on the term 'human trafficking.'