Seen and Not Heard (1)

"Seen and Not Heard (1)" is the rawest and most visceral piece in J. Brooke Wade’s three-part series confronting the tension between feminine visibility and silence. In this unsettling and unforgettable watercolor painting, dark purple lipsclamp down on a hazel-green human eye, wet with saliva and accented by splattered pigment. It’s a confrontation — a portrait of restraint, rage, and the sharp discomfort of being objectified, suppressed, and watched.

This is the starting point of the Seen and Not Heard series, and it sets the emotional tone with intensity. Where the later works carry quiet defiance, this one bristles with unease. The image is grotesque and symbolic — a mouth designed to speak reduced to a vessel for sight, for surveillance, for powerlessness. The mess — the spit, the splatters — is deliberate. It breaks the illusion of politeness. It demands to be seen, even if it can't speak.

The hazel-green eye, slightly off-center and fully alert, watches from within clenched lips that glisten with tension. The paint is loose, expressive, and chaotic in places, adding to the feeling that something has been forced into stillness — something alive.

Perfect for:

• collectors of feminist surrealism and symbolic dark watercolor art

• fans of unsettling body symbolism and gothic figurative work

• those interested in art that challenges silence, objectification, and identity

• anyone looking for bold, emotionally confrontational artwork with a message

This piece isn’t meant to blend in. It’s a conversation starter. Whether displayed on its own or as the first in the Seen and Not Heard trilogy, it makes a bold, urgent visual statement — about visibility, discomfort, and the refusal to look away.

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