Acrylic paint. Pastels. Watercolour. Embroidery thread. Pencil. Textile. Sanitary pads. Movie. Blood. Paper. Ceramics. Plastic. Canvas. Photography. Any medium can be used to create art. Menstrual art, for example. To put your finger on the sore spot. To place question marks. Or to denounce gender inequality. Over the past ten years, here at Period! we’ve seen fantastic examples of menstrala – as this genre is also referred to. Usually in a small-scale and/or solo exhibition. But not always. The Widening the Cycle exhibition, for example, which was on display in Boston (United States) included work by no fewer than 36 artists from ten different countries. They all had one common goal: putting menstruation in a different and, above all, broader perspective. Showing how beautiful the menstrual cycle is – and how strange the menstrual taboo actually is. A selection from the colorful catalogue for inspiration.
Jen Lewis
Curator of Widening the Cycle is the American artist/photographer and art historian Jen Lewis (Michigan, USA), known for her art project Beauty in Blood. For this series, together with her husband Rob Lewis, she captured macro images of her menstruation blood, mixed with water. The result? Mesmerising cloudy skies, that sometimes look like alien galaxies,. Just look at The Wirl on the website of Saatschi Art. Or at the colourful Truth or Perception or The Crimson Wave, pictured above.
‘My work invites people to look at menstrual blood with an open mind,’ Lewis herself says. ‘If I have learned anything over the last two years of producing Beauty in Blood, it is that menstruation matters more than most people in society are willing to recognise; it is deeply embedded in our global body politics and is a major contributor to the vast gender inequity between men and women today. Institutionalised hierarchies maintain and support the outdated patriarchal belief that menstruation makes the female body inferior to the male body.
‘Billions of dollars are spent annually trying to make women’s bodies conform to male ‘norms’ by suppressing the natural menstrual cycle through hormonal birth control. The feminine ‘hygiene’ industry perpetuates taboo thinking by suggesting the monthly cycle is dirty and socially impolite; it should be concealed in frilly pink wrappers like candy. It should only very loosely be referenced with blue liquid in product commercials. In my experience, women and men are hungry for an authentic dialogue about menstruation and all that encompasses. It is clear the time is now to stand up and speak out on behalf of menstruation. It is a natural part of life.’
Nichole Speciale
The Lost Ones is a group of nine small embroidered hoops. The tiny fetus shapes have been embroidered with thread dyed with menstrual blood. With this project, artist Nichole Speciale (USA) questions the gendered practice of embroidery and the shaming of the female body. ‘Thread has for many decades has been associated with feminine home craft, and has often been disregarded as a legitimate art making medium. In its simplest interpretation, thread is a continuous line. Here thread symbolises the womb. The depicted fetus shapes serve as reminders for the potential held in the menses.’
Phoebe Man
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a fertile woman to understand infertility is the full title of the piece above. The short version is Dromedary. ‘Many dromedaries are infertile,’ says artist Gwenn Seemel (New Jersey, USA) about the relation between menstruation and these desert animals. ‘I want to show that, both for humans and for animals, getting pregnant and having babies can be difficult and sometimes even deathly.’
‘I always assumed that I would have children one day. It wasn’t something that I felt strongly about, but I did think I would do it. Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a disease that often causes infertility. Suddenly the future I hadn’t cared much about seemed important.’ This led to research into the urge to reproduce. The research eventually let to the picture book Crime Against Nature, which includes Dromedary.
Anzi Matta
‘This apple symbolises women, how they’ve been abused throughout the centuries and how they’re often seen as the victim. Feminist propaganda? No, it’s just the truth,’ says Anzi Matta (Indonesia). Her medium is Staedtler Mars Lumograph graphite wooden pencils on paper. ‘I usually use a piece of paper and I also use watercolour, but not as often as I used a pencil. Sometimes I use Adobe Photoshop for completion of the final stage and print with the best quality.’
Mary Rouncefield
‘Menstruation is a natural proces,’ says Mary Rouncefield (UK). ‘That’s why I used watercolour. It flows, just like blood, and takes its own direction with minimum intervention from myself. I felt that this was appropriate as menstruation is a natural process which takes its own course. The painting’s soft colours create a positive atmosphere. She’s Got The Painters In illustrates an expression from Northern England- which I myself have only ever heard said by men. Usually with a snigger. I decided to ‘re-appropriate’ this expression by making the ‘painters’ female rather than male.
Sara Raca
‘My work is a combination of textile and poetry.’ says Sara Raca (Mexico) ‘In this dress, the blood that you normally don’t see because menstruation happens inside your body, has been made visible.’ Tejido Sa(n)grado is part of a a collection of several pieces about menstruation. Fabric is proposed like a second skin, which redefines the vision of female blood. The Tejido Sa(n)grado collection is part of Naturaleza Rara: Sewing Writing Lab.
More information
* For more information about the Widening the Cycle exhibition, look at: Wideningthecycle.com.
* Want to order a copy of the exhibit catalogue Widening the Cycle – A Menstrual Cycle & Reproductive Justice Art Show? Go to Blurb.com.
* Want to buy art from Jen Lewis? That’s possible via her website BeautyinBlood.com.
* Jen Lewis also contributed to The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies – with a chapter on art. This handbook (with over 1,000 pagina’s) can be downloaded for free via palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811506130
Period! is an independent, online magazine about all aspects of menstruation. Period! is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. If you’re suffering from medical complaints, always visit your doctor or GP. Editorial articles can contain affiliate links. Sponsored collaborations can be found in the category Spotlight. Do you have any questions? Check our Contact page.
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