A Love That Clings
Niki Boytchuk-Hale
Tkaronto (B. 2000) @nik.paint
2021
Vinyl transfer, 192” x 144”
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With funding and assistance from Queen’s University Human Rights & Equity Office, Queen’s Consensual Humans Club, and the Alma Mater Society.
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Located on the front of Harrison-LeCaine Hall, 39 Bader St, Queen's University, Kingston.
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A Love that Clings highlights some of the many ways we can show up with consent in mind for our community and ourselves. A necessary step is acknowledging the range of lived experiences, specifically for Indigenous, Black and People of Colour, 2SLGTBQQIA folks, the disabled community, and women. The honeysuckle is used across cultures to represent bonds of love; a love that clings without harming
anyone.
Dedicated in loving memory of Eunice Beverly Quash (1963 - 2018) who supported others in an endless number of ways, including through her work at the Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Services of Halton, and as a mother and mentor to many.
Breaking Down The Mural
The Honey suckle originated in China before growing in Europe and North America. This plant has been used in literature by many, including Robert Frost in the poem “To Earthword”, where he uses the honey suckle as a symbol of intense love. In Scotland, the plant appears in weddings to represent love that clings without harming anyone.
The dots serve as a symbol for the statistic that 1 in 4 North American women will be sexually assaulted during their lifetime. Statistics can sometimes seem abstract and hard to connect with, while in reality these are our friends, our familiy, and ourselves.
Queer love is underrepresented in media. Students, regardless of gender identity or sexual preference, who may be coming from a community that lacks this representation, deserve to have this imagery to look at and feel seen, and act as a reminder that love
is love.
The Black experience is unique, beautiful, and carries ongoing trauma caused by racist systems and individuals. We cannot have a culture that respects consent until Black and people of colour feel safe, respected, and beautiful in all aspects of their life.
A red ribbon skirt acts as a reminder of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ peoples. It is important to remember that through colonization, Indigenous peoples had their consent taken away by settlers, and any discussions involving consent should include Indigenous voices, guidance, and medicine.
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The dove has been used across the world to represent profound peace. A culture based on consent has the ability to bring a sense of ease and reconciliation to individuals and community.
