Silence Is Also a Voice by Iyanuoluwa Babalola

Medium: Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions: 166.04 x 71.12 cm

Year: 2026

Price: $500.00 USD

Status: available

Silence Is Also a Voice explores what happens when the silence we have learned to carry becomes something we continue to live with. Through a figure with stitched lips and a screaming shadow, the work reveals the tension between outward composure and the emotions and truths we suppress. I created this piece as a continuation of Raised to Endure, Not to Speak, moving from how silence is learned to the consequences of what remains unspoken. It challenges the belief that silence is always a virtue, revealing how it can sustain abuse, injustice, favoritism, unhealthy relationships, harmful traditions, and social neglect. It speaks to the child who endures unfairness, the friend who remains silent out of loyalty, the spouse who suffers to preserve a family, the individual who carries emotional burdens alone, and the citizen who becomes accustomed to injustice. The screaming shadow represents the pain and truth that silence cannot erase, while the figures holding signposts offer a call to speak, heal, and take responsibility. The work invites viewers to reflect on our own moments of silence, why we choose it, and what it allowed to continue. and it reminds us that every silence communicates something and choosing to speak can be an act of courage, healing, and transformation.