Photos: Elisabeth Ohlson

Credible, Small Secrets

Sonya Kelliher-Combs

Cotton fabric, human hair, nylon thread, glass bead, steel pin.

Credible
capable of being believed; convincing
Worthy of belief; trustworthy

Credible is a series addressing the overwhelming abuse of the Catholic Church in the State of Alaska. It continues a series I began exploring in 2005. These paintings represent the 35 villages that have credible claims of abuse by the hand of those sent to save them. Below each work is a list of those accused. This information was generously shared by Kyle Hopkins from the Anchorage Daily News, his research was obtained from Jesuits West and supplemented with a report by the Catholic Diocese of Fairbanks that lists “all known individuals, including priests, religious, lay employees and volunteers against whom a complaint of sexual abuse has been filed by one or more individuals” and against whom the abuse has been proven, admitted or “credibly accused.”