Before moving to Boston, there was one more collaboration between the talented fine-art painter, Lisa Temple, and me. This, our 6^th collaboration over the span of 8 months, is a powerful piece of art that encapsulates an important message about human trafficking through visual metaphor. We wanted to highlight this critical issue by integrating a teenage girl into a colorful canvas. In the past, Lisa has volunteered her talents with Make Way Partners (MWP) and Traffick911. MWP (now known as Lift Up the Vulnerable) is an organization devoted to preventing the trafficking and oppression of vulnerable women and children in war zones. In 2012, Lisa traveled to South Sudan with MWP to work with some of these women and children.

Lisa Temple was inspired to paint a piece that could bring awareness to human trafficking after receiving a clear vision from God. In the vision she was instructed to create a life-size painting with the words “No More” and “Know More” written with black brush strokes on the opposite corners of the canvas. We asked teenager Natalee Adams to be our model.

The Collaborative Process

Starting out, Natalee was dressed in all-white street clothes and blended with the blank canvas. The collaborative art project was completed over 4 days. On Day 1, Lisa painted on our model’s white hoodie, cut-off shorts, and her white Doc Martens. On days 2 and 3, she painted the 8’ X 11’ canvas with bold colors. On Day 4, Lisa started adding colors to Natalee’s face, hair, hands, and any exposed skin. She wore the dried, painted clothes, camouflaging herself into the background.

This purposeful act of disguising the teenager with paint symbolized how the estimated 40 million victims of modern slavery worldwide are often overlooked by society while hiding in plain sight. The public remains largely unaware of this devastating reality. The motivation behind this work is to shed light on the issue and encourage action. The words “No More” and “Know More” serve as a call to action, saying no more to ignoring this crisis and to gain knowledge to be informed so we can collectively and individually take meaningful steps to help.

I documented this powerful collaboration through photographs and video of the painting process from beginning to end. Creative works like this demonstrate how art can educate and be intentional in raising awareness to real world problems, inspiring change among us and in society.

From idea to impact. Below is a short film of the behind the scenes of the “No More” project, a collaborative effort to bring awareness to the severity of Human Trafficking through creativity and determination.

For further information or for image usage inquiries, please contact me here.

Human Trafficking Resources:

In the United States, the National Human Trafficking Hotline is a crucial resource for reporting and getting help for human trafficking incidents. You can contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline 24/7 at: Phone: 1-888-373-7888 Text: “HELP” or “INFO” to 233733 (BeFree). Website: https://humantraffickinghotline.org/

How to get involved?

It’s essential to support organizations and initiatives dedicated to combating human trafficking and providing support to victims to address this pressing global issue. Below are some of the organizations that work to combat human trafficking and provide support to survivors. (Please research and verify the credibility of any organization before donating or getting involved).

1. Polaris Project: Polaris operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline and provides services for survivors. Website: https://polarisproject.org/
2. Not For Sale: Not For Sale works to prevent and combat human trafficking and modern slavery globally. Website: https://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
3. ECPAT International: ECPAT is a global network dedicated to ending the sexual exploitation of children. Website: https://www.ecpat.org/
4. Love146: Love146 focuses on ending child trafficking and exploitation. Website: https://love146.org/
5. Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW): CATW works to combat human trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls. Website: https://www.catwinternational.org/