Post by goddessina on Mar 28, 2010 22:45:49 GMT -5
Whilst painting (especially finger painting) with one’s menses is a topic which has received some attention in various articles, I feel artist Vanessa Tieg’s “Menstrala” paintings open up many discussions, emotions, and are overall very beautiful images.
SO! I thought I'd start the conversation here on the Victorian Cross Campus Women's Networks Forum!
Myself, I am quite comfortable with the idea of the medium – but would be careful who I discussed it with! My feelings towards menstruating, however, are not quite so upbeat as Tieg's...
WARNING: THE IMAGES ON THESE SITES (links below) DO CONTAIN ACTUAL MENSES (“MENSTRUAL BLOOD")!
To find out more about the artist, and her other works (including dance), go to vanessatiegs.com/
To see a quick overview of the works (as well as some of the reactions to them!) go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ5-_zegKSU&feature=player_embedded#
You can take the time to have a more considered look at the Menstrala paintings at menstrala.blogspot.com/
There are also two audio interviews with Vanessa Tiegs you may wish to listen to.
I’d love to discuss their content here on the Forum!
My reflections on the interviews with Vanessa Tiegs…
PART ONE
www.youtube.com/watch?v=39IOZrt_mq8
There is a lot of truth that most of us tend to be more in touch with our paycheck cycle than our fertility cycle!
However, I found myself disagreeing with Tieg’s statement
“without the menstrual cycle we wouldn’t be whole”. I felt whole as a prepubescent child before menstruation and I hope to feel whole when I’m postmenopausal! I’d like to think that should I decide for whatever reason to go on the pill and not menstruate, that I would still be whole as that decision is mine and mine alone. For women who are not biologically women and/or do not menstruate, I would like to think that they can still identify and socialise as ‘whole’ women, as ‘whole’ people, independent of the absence or presence of the menstrual cycle.
I find her anecdotes on reactions interesting – the images are very beautiful, which makes using menses as a medium all the more effective! However, I don’t always (maybe I should say ‘don’t often’) find menstruating to be a ‘beautiful’ experience: I’m not too fond of clingy mess, or of the massive back pain and stomach cramps I get! And I feel greedy that this beautiful, nutrient-rich substance is leaving me, that my body is 'rejecting' it.
What I found to be most intriguing of the second half of the interview was her view on men in relation to menstruation to be intriguing. Sex itself has not/does not form the primary aspect of my interactions with my partners, but I just love the idea of not having to feel embarrassed, but supported by my partners during menstruation (even though they're male).
PART TWO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZlb4SZTKQQ
It’s interesting that Tiegs breaks menstruation into the cycles of ovulation and menstruation as interconnected, each with their own theme.
Her study on attitude-experience-menstruation was also interesting, I’m happy to give positive thought a go to see if it relieves the cramps I experience!
At the moment, my favourite phase of the cycle is when I have sterilized my menstrual cup at the end of my period – because my next period is the longest possible time away! (I was amused by the interviewer’s surprised that Tiegs names her favourite stage as pre-menstrual… after all, for Tiegs, premenstrual=procreative, and when she knows she is capable of producing such beautiful images with her menstrual blood, it’s hardly surprising to me!).
When Tiegs says that the menstrual blood is very intimate, I can’t help but agree – whilst the idea of painting with menses appeals to me to some extent, the idea that people would know that that is my own ‘secret’ menses, I’d feel uncomfortable. Because, I guess, I’m greedy and only share my menses with the plants (after rinsing out my menstrual cup)(Think 'Blood and Bone', minus the butchery and the horribly, strong stench which prevents you from enjoying the garden for some days!).
Hit reply, share your views (on Tiegs, the interviews, the Menstrala, etc...)
