©Melissa Kreider, S. and her supporters outside of a Cook County courthouse, where she was being charged with first degree murder for killing her abuser in self-defense while pregnant, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2023 Name: SAge: Early 30’s Charges: Convicted of Second Degree Murder Case status: Released on house arrest/electronic monitoring while awaiting bench trial for four years. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, credit for time served on house arrest. Served 17 days in prison. Number of Danger Assessment Questions Answered “Yes” To: 20 of 20

Melissa Kreider is an artist who always surprises me. She has shared  work with LENSCRATCH a number of times, and each series offers new insight into her dedication to her voice. Many artists will shy away from sharing their true thoughts, thinking about the next collector or what the art world wants to see. Melissa is genuine and outspoken in her goals as an artist. She is consistently dedicated to raising awareness of gendered violence. Her new series, Worthy, is a natural progression in her investigations of domestic violence in the United States, with a focus on self-defense. The statistics of violence and criminalization can be a bit abstract, and true victims get misconstrued as the perpetrators, but Worthy brings the visuals and personal narratives to the forefront. The juxtaposition of legality and empathy brings up questions of how we as a society can take steps to prevent these outcomes, preventing the violence from the beginning. Time and time again, Melissa reminds me of why we make art: to share stories, create narratives, and help understand the world around us.

©Melissa Kreider, Worthy

Melissa Grace Kreider (she/her) is an artist, photographer, and survivor advocate currently residing in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Melissa holds an MFA in Photography from The University of Iowa, and her work and trauma-informed art practice are devoted to examining the systems in place to help or harm victims of sexual and domestic assault on a micro/macro level. Her philosophy of artmaking is based in the absolute and undying refusal to fall in line with the culture of silence surrounding intimate partner violence. Melissa’s work has been exhibited and published internationally, and has been reported on by major news organizations such as BBC World News and Wired Magazine.

Follow Melissa is on Instagram at: @melissakreider

©Melissa Kreider, S.’s ankle monitor, which she’s had to wear since 2019 while under house arrest and awaiting trial, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2023

Worthy

Worthy is a photographic investigation exploring the realities that criminalized survivors of intimate partner violence face in the U.S. carceral system after acting in self-defense.

Terrified and entrapped before using lethal force, criminalized survivors across the US are punished for acting in self-defense to escape their abusers with their and their children’s lives. The same legal system that failed to protect survivors from abusers uses all their resources to incarcerate victims. When survivors are convicted, they are handed jail sentences that will ensure that they languish in prison for decades instead of sentencing options that would offer therapy and rehabilitation for the trauma they’ve endured.

How has this become the price of survival?

At the heart of the narrative of Worthy is a clear and direct questioning of why the power structures in place that are allegedly intended to help victims of abuse ultimately fail. For the majority of individuals who find themselves in these situations, they are punished for defending themselves or they die at the hands of their abusers when they don’t: kill or be killed.

Worthy does not condone killing, but examines the legal outcomes spurred by a society where gender violence is not taken seriously, allowing toxic masculinity, misogyny, and the carceral system to run rampant. Who is worthy of being believed and receiving justice and compassion? What does justice look like for survivors of sexual and domestic assault when the concept of a “perfect victim” is a fantasy?

©Melissa Kreider, H.’s mother shows me her third grade portrait, amongst her family photo altar, 2024

Worthy will be exhibited at the Center for Mad Culture in downtown Chicago in early 2025.

February 14 – March 29, 2025 | Center for Mad Culture | 410 S. Michigan Ave. #419 | Chicago

Opening reception: Friday, February 14, 5-9pm

You can follow the Center for Mad Culture on Instagram at: @centerformadculture

©Melissa Kreider, Worthy

©Melissa Kreider, The Danger Assessment, a series of questions asked criminalized survivors to determine how high-risk their abusive situation was, to prove “Justifiable Homicide.” 2025

©Melissa Kreider, Remnants in Macomb County Jail, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, Hope Alive, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, The Domestic Violence Expert and I, listening to H. tell us what happened while they conduct a Danger Assessment, Illinois, USA, 2023 Name: H- Age: Late 20’s Charges: First Degree Murder for killing her abuser in self-defense Case status: Awaiting trial, incarcerated for 2 years as of February 2025 Number of Danger Assessment Questions Answered “Yes” To: 17 of 20

©Melissa Kreider, Worthy

©Melissa Kreider, H.’s lunch, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, H. in prison, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, B., T., and H., manifesting the outside (in the way that i can), 2024

©Melissa Kreider, E. in jail, where she is being charged for murder-for-hire in self-defense, Illinois, USA, 2024

©Melissa Kreider, T. Returning the Gaze, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, S. awaiting trial, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 2023

©Melissa Kreider, Worthy

©Melissa Kreider, T. in Prison, Illinois, USA, 2023 Name: T- Age: Mid-40’s Charges: Four 1st Degree Murder Charges, One Aggravated Domestic Battery Charge for killing her abuser in self-defense Case status: Charges dismissed April 2024, after serving 10 months in prison. Number of Danger Assessment Questions Answered “Yes” To: 18 of 20

Epiphany Knedler is an interdisciplinary artist + educator exploring the ways we engage with history. She graduated from the University of South Dakota with a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Political Science and completed her MFA in Studio Art at East Carolina University. She is based in Aberdeen, South Dakota, serving as an Assistant Professor of Art and Coordinator of the Art Department at Northern State University, a Content Editor with LENSCRATCH, and the co-founder and curator of the art collective Midwest Nice Art. Her work has been exhibited in the New York Times, Vermont Center for Photography, Lenscratch, Dek Unu Arts, and awarded through the Lucie Foundation, F-Stop Magazine, and Photolucida Critical Mass.

Follow Epiphany Knedler on Instagram: @epiphanysk