Ewa Grochowska survived years of brutal emotional and physical abuse at the hands of two different partners. The word she uses to describe her personality at the time is “zombie.”
“It’s such a brainwashing experience while it’s going on and all you can think is, wow, what did I do to make him or her do this,” Grochowska said.
The 28-year-old from New London is now more than two years removed from her last abusive relationship, but she can still recall the helplessness she felt as she endured cigarette burns, bruises, and choking attacks.
Grochowska walked away from that relationship after opening up to a colleague about her abuse. Since then, she has channeled her energy into a new, more positive love: pottery.
She started Freedom4Ewa pottery, and her pieces are subconsciously based on her abuse survival experience.
“When I started my art work I just kept making more and more and I can’t even describe the feeling it gave me. It just felt really good.”
Grochowska started selling her pottery to raise money for art supplies for children living in protective homes for domestic violence survivors. And now she wants to tell her story publicly to empower other survivors.
“To me it doesn’t matter how difficult it is. I’m not going to stop. That’s my main thing because I really think that I survived so I could do this.”
More information about Grochowska and her pottery can be found on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/freedom4ewapottery