|
The artist Jennifer Weigel writes,
I am a visual artist in St. Louis,
Missouri, and have been making art
about (and sometimes using)
menstruation in order to raise
cultural awareness and lessen the
social stigma associated with it,
although I create other types of work
as well. I've included some
information on the Menstruation series
that I have compiled. My
Menstruation series has been shown in
upstate New York, although I have (as
expected) run into several roadblocks
in regards to getting this work
shown. There are also other
pieces about menstruation involving
acrylic stained clothing and the like,
but they haven't been shown as of yet.
Anyway, I love your website and
thought that this series of my work
seems relevant, so I've since decided
to share it with you. You're
welcome to check out some of my other
work anyway, if you're curious.
Also, you should look up Vanessa
Tiegs' blood moon paintings - they're
just great.
Anyway, thanks so much for MUM -
great idea and an inspiration to us
all.
Jennifer Weigel
visual artist
http://home.earthlink.net/~cwilbur202/
Description of Work (from the
Menstruation series):
This is a series of bodily function
monoprints made in Jan. 2005. First
thing each morning during the week of
my monthly period, I pressed my
menstrual vagina to the watercolor
paper to make these prints. Due
to the somewhat unpredictable nature
of this exercise, each piece is its
own unique experience, although the
method and materials remain the same
throughout. However, they still
form a cohesive whole.
Artist's Statement on Menstruation
(from her experiences):
Menstruation is still a fairly taboo
topic. It is often an avoided
aspect of a woman's existence even
though PMS is blamed for all sorts of
angry outbreaks and mood swings, many
of which have nothing to do with
it. Since it is a culturally
taboo topic, menstruation doesn't
often appear in conversation except in
certain types of gross-out humor and
among groups of women, who sometimes
have chat sessions comparing their
experiences.
A girl's first period is often a
dreaded part of parenthood, since her
body is asserting that she is, in
fact, growing up. She is no
longer a little girl and could now
even have a baby of her own. As a
result, this major life change is not
readily celebrated as a step towards
womanhood, and, like many other bodily
changes, it can bring shame or guilt
instead.
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.
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.
While continuing to redefine the idea
of art and artmaking, I am also
seeking to help demystify this process
of the female body. By making art
about menstruation and even using the
by-products of this natural
occurrence, I also hope that I might
encourage more women to find ways to
celebrate their own cycles through
art.
She later wrote,
In regards to my limitations showing
this work, I have submitted it to a
local art party celebrating women in
the arts multiple times now, but it
hasn't been accepted as part of the
exhibited work. They have shown
some fairly provocative work, often
centered on cultural perceptions of
beauty and body image, so I was
surprised that they didn't jump on the
opportunity to show these pieces. I'll
probably try again, for the third
time, this year, though. They get
different jurors each time, so it's
just a matter of time. And I
don't hold it against the show, since
there are so many great pieces of art
out there, and I know that a lot of
really relevant pieces are rejected
from shows simply because there isn't
enough space to show them all. I
have also tried to find venues to show
some of my other pieces about
menstruation to little avail, but I'll
keep on trying. It always depends
on what has been submitted and on how
open-minded the gallery is. The
more subtle pieces tend to do
better. I have managed to show
some of these works in upstate New
York, however. And I've shown
some menstruation jewelry wherein I
used beads to symbolize different days
of the month, with unakite
representing ovulation (since it is
often associated with fertility and
rebirth) and various light brown and
red beads of different sizes and
shapes to depict the menstrual cycle
itself. These pieces were so
popular once the symbology behind them
was explained that they were purchased
before the show even
opened! (They required an
explanation simply due to their
subtlety.)
It seems to me that, in regards to
the topic of menstruation, a lot of
people would rather simply look the
other way and not have to think about
it or be confronted by it. I think
that's part of why I'm finding it
difficult to show some of these works,
because they're controversial even
though they really shouldn't
be. But I feel that until women
learn to accept every aspect of their
bodies and embrace their coming of age
into womanhood, they can't ever really
appreciate what it means to be a
woman. We need to learn to
celebrate ourselves and our bodies,
not hide from them.
I create other sorts of artwork as
well, but I prefer to make artwork
that causes people to think and not
just more pretty pictures. If you
want, you can look at some of my other
work on my website at http://home.earthlink.net/~cwilbur202/ I've
been
planning to create a subsection in
mixed media for my art about
menstruation, but it's simply been too
long since I updated the site and I
haven't gotten around to it
yet. I'm hoping to get some of
these pieces photographed and uploaded
in the not-too-distant future, once I
find the time between shows.
Anyway, I have attached the first
three pieces (Days 1 - 3) from the
Menstruation series, as noted in my
earlier email. As anticipated,
they have darkened a bit with age, so
if I were to scan the other 3 now,
they wouldn't match. Day 3 is
probably my personal favorite because
it looks like a rather eloquent
abstract painting. If you are
interested in seeing some images of
some of my other work about
menstruation, I can shoot some digital
photos and email them. One piece
is a physical manifestation of a
woman's Coming of Age. The next
main piece in this series is still in
its formative stages, though, but it
will be a design for a site-specific
installation. If the piece is accepted
and actually installed for the show,
I'll let you know and will email
photos. Also, once you acquire a
physical space in which to house the
museum, let me know as I would love to
donate a piece of work.
If you get the opportunity, you
should really look into Vanessa Tiegs'
work and see if she wouldn't mind for
you to link to her site somewhere or
to interview her for the museum (if
you can still find her website - it
keeps moving around). Her
paintings are stunningly beautiful.
Thanks so much for putting together
such a wonderful museum and record of
how we perceive of menstruation in
different cultures. It is an
invaluable resource. I am
looking forward to perusing the rest
of the site when I get the opportunity
- there is a huge font of information
there! I have already emailed it
to several friends of mine whom I
thought would greatly appreciate it as
well. Anyway, take care and
thanks again.
- Jennifer
NEXT page
of Jennifer Weigel's work.
|
