Marie-Denise Douyon, who was born in Haiti and raised in Morocco, studied in the Fashion Institute of technology, in New York City before moving to Montreal in 1991. Her work appeared on AJN's cover in August.

Of Viol, Douyon says that its inspiration came from the 1996 rape of Haitian teenage girl in Montreal by two young Haitian men who were tried and convicted of the crime in 1998. The court handed down 18month suspended sentences, which it justified by stating that the rape had to be considered in the context of Haitian culture. This sparked numerous protests, and eventually the sentences were modified (to 18-month prison sentences). The painting is also meant to evoke a sense of what Douyon calls the "madness inherent in human nature." The title translates into English as "Rape Above a Nest of Cuckoos."

ART OF NURSING AJN
November 2002, Vol. 102, No.11
Art of Nursing is coordinated by Sylvia Foley
Senior editor: sfoley@lww.coms