The Menstruation Series

By making art about menstruation and even using the by-products of this natural occurrence, I hope that I might encourage more women to find ways to celebrate their own cycles through art. Meanwhile, I seek to redefine the idea of art and artmaking while further demystifying this process of the female body.

In almost all cultures, a woman’s menstrual period is either a celebrated or feared part of her life. Since her body is asserting that she is, in fact, growing up, a girl’s first period can be seen as a joyous coming of age into womanhood or as a dreaded part of parenthood. She is no longer a little girl and could now even have a baby of her own. Some peoples regard this transition as cause for celebration of this newfound fertility and have created different rituals associated with the event, while others see it as a reason for the young woman to be ashamed of her body, creating their own rituals based on precautionary actions. This glorification or disdain for a woman’s menstrual cycle continues into her adult life.

In the United States, menstruation is still a more-or-less culturally taboo topic, although PMS is blamed for all sorts of angry outbreaks and mood swings, many of which have nothing to do with it. Thus, most women try to conceal any evidence that they are on "that time of the month". Some wear padded mattresses in their panties to collect any evidence, shameful of any seepage that might occur. Others discreetly dash into the store to buy a box of tampons, often burying it among other items or using the self-checkout. A few even limit their attire and their activities so that they are unlikely to encounter any embarrassing incidents.

Despite the social stigma, some women have sought ways to better understand their bodies and their menstrual cycles as a decisive step towards celebrating womanhood. Several women have made "blood moon paintings" by collecting and using their menstrual blood, most notably including Vanessa Tiegs, who keeps an ongoing journal of paintings. There is also an entire museum devoted to menstruation called MUM, The Museum of Menstruation. In this series of work, I seek to question the social stigma surrounding menstruation and to encourage women to be more comfortable in their bodies.