Zelda McAfee’s BFA thesis exhibition, “Hell is Empty, and You Are Here,” challenges visitors to confront how silence and loyalty can make ordinary people complicit in harm. Throughout February, visitors to ShiftSpace Gallery at 120 E. 1st St. N. in Wichita can experience the painful journey behind senior Zelda McAfee’s BFA thesis exhibition.
The exhibition addresses a deep theme of childhood abuse, neglect and assault, topics that McAfee said are often minimized or ignored within communities. It showcases more than a year of artistic work drawn from McAfee’s family materials, including letters, photographs and archival documents from their childhood.
“This work is not meant for the viewer,” McAfee said. “You are in a dynamic that was never supposed to be seen.”
The exhibition is an L-shape, arranged strategically to guide visitors through the gallery, piecing together a story that feels unavoidable…