Scapegoat Child Lost
A solo exhibition featuring Michelle Harris.
Scapegoat Child Lost: Redemption Year, the Great Unlearning is a deeply personal and socially engaged exhibition that examines the lasting effects of childhood (sexual) violence, abuse of power, and intergenerational harm. Drawing from experiences within a military family, as well as late-life understandings of neurodiversity and chronic illness, the artist transforms the gallery into a participatory environment for collective reflection and healing.
The Scapegoat is usually a victim of emotional and physical abuse by the narcissistic parent. The Lost Child is usually known as “the quiet one” or “the dreamer”. The Lost Child is the invisible child. They try to escape the family situation by making themselves very small and quiet.
Through object-based work, text, and community-centered art-making, the exhibition interrogates how abuse persists not only through individual actions but through systems that normalize silence and protect harm.
Centering the experiences of those who have lost a sense of safety in childhood, the work ultimately gestures toward care, accountability, and the reconstruction of self.
About the Artists:
Michelle Harris (Philadelphia, PA)
Michelle Anne Harris is a Philadelphia-based artist and Co-Founder of Big Ramp, where she lead Special Programs and Community Outreach. Her art and teaching practices are grounded in her experience as a trauma-informed early childhood art educator.
Michelle works across disciplines, including printmaking, photography, painting, book arts, poetry, and sculpture. She holds an MFA in Printmaking from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA in Photography and Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Her commitment to educational access and community engagement has led her to develop programs for institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Art Institute of Chicago, Hyde Park Art Center, and Mural Arts Philadelphia.
About The Information Space:
The Information Space (Info) is an artist-run gallery and event space in Port Richmond Philadelphia. Started in 2019, we provide a platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their work in a supportive environment. Always encouraging artists to blur the line between studio and gallery, challenge the conventional, and push the boundaries of their creativity. We believe that experimentation finds new depths of intrigue within the structured confines of a gallery space, and it is our mission to celebrate and champion such innovative expressions.