Period.
Adrian, MI | January 2020
Period. was my senior exhibition before getting my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Siena Heights University. I used soft sculpture to create a space that encouraged conversation about menstruation and its effects on the body and mind. The tactile interaction with these works appeals to the instinctive need to touch and experience a textile work while challenging the assumptions about not only menstruation but the relationship between fine art and craft itself.
Print Design
Every part of Period. was touchable and interactive, so I wanted this to translate throughout the design aspects of the show. Not only did this come through in imagery, but also in thinking about where this information would be found. For example, I placed the fliers for the show on all the bathroom doors to not only provoke, but also have people interact with it as they entered and left.
Exhibition Statement
Don't cough. And whatever you do, don't sneeze. Am I leaking? Do they know? They must know. How do I hide it?
Period. explores and examines cultural taboos associated with menstruation. Throughout the installation, yarn and fabric are used in the interactive soft sculpture to represent comfort and involve viewers in an uncomfortable conversation. These materials reveal the conflict between art and craft, commenting on the social construct of “womanhood” in a postmodern context.
Viewers interact with the soft sculpture to create a moment of self-awareness and contemplation of the body. Circular and oval shapes represent the cyclical pattern of menstruation, though not used to represent a strictly “female” anatomy. Yarn wraps around the structures creating tension and distorting its form, alluding to the tension and distortion put on the body.
Menstruation is not just a female issue it happens in all body types. We need to recognize the varying shades of menstruation and realize it’s not a curse but a human experience.
Poster and Flyer
Soft Sculpture
These sculptures were not only tactile and visually diverse but they also provided smell. I really wanted to work with all the senses throughout the exhibition these doubled as touch and smell. I filled each with the same things you would find in heating pads for periods. I decided to soak rice in essential oils to mimic the smell of scented pads before filling each sack.
Cycles
These were some of the first sculptures I worked on for the show. Each sculpture changed shape over time as I weaved and added more textiles and yarns. Since everything was touchable in the gallery and I encouraged interaction, each day I would come to open the gallery I would find them scattered in different places.
Desks
I really wanted to connect with the community and show all the different experiences with menstruation so I decided to create an anonymous form where people could submit their experiences with having periods. I then printed these out and tapped them, like name tags, to three desks for people to walk around and read.
Video and Stools
This experience was multifaceted, not only did I edit and show an old sex-ed video projected over my soft sculptures, I also fabricated stools for people to sit on. The stools had been made with lumps in the middle to simulate a bulky pad.
