- Collage
- 70 x 70 cm
- Hahnemühle Paper
- Edition 1/5, signed
- 2024
Imagine a woman's body producing its own
beauty product and no one knows it – And no one buys it!
The photo series is an invitation to menstruating beings to an archaic self-connection ritual with their own menstrual blood. Furthermore, it is a bloody, free critique of the cosmetics industry. Let us embrace a new understanding of the power of our own sacred essence. It is more than time that we stop being ashamed of this natural ritual of our body, hiding or tabooing the creative female cycle. We may free ourselves from toxic shame as well as from external and internal patriarchal dynamics. More space for Yin energy in our Yang-heavy world.
But applying expelled menstrual blood to my face?! Seriously? The first time I heard about it, it both repulsed and fascinated me. I had to try it at the first opportunity. Do I trust the idea of menstrual blood on my facial skin as a beauty product?
A rather unconventional thought that initially cost me a lot of overcoming on many levels. With a substance often described as unclean, which I had been disgusted by for years. Making contact in this intimate way was a transformative journey for my connection of soul and body.
Would this seemingly rebellious act have the same nourishing effect on my skin as it does on my houseplants? The precious deconstruction of the idea that menstrual blood is something disgusting has proven itself:
Since I regularly practice the moon blood face mask ritual, it's almost unbelievable how my pores are getting finer. It makes the skin glow, incredibly soft, and stimulates wound healing.
For 3 years, with every moon cycle, I have looked forward to this integral ceremony of my archaic essence. Internally, I experience a deepening connection with my female collective shadow archetypes: the witch, the medicine woman, the wild woman.
New scientific findings show that menstrual blood is a promising support for the regeneration of skin cells in wound healing. It contains a wealth of beneficial substances such as iron, zinc, antioxidants, and even stem cells. Recent studies even show that stem cells from menstrual blood could be used for various medical purposes, such as treating autoimmune diseases, breast cancer, and even neurodegenerative diseases. In our physical home, there is nothing a woman should be ashamed of. Shame can be misused as a means to keep us small and powerless. May we free ourselves from patriarchal ideas, from shame, from capitalist exploitation, from beauty standards within ourselves and in the female field.
This photo series is a tribute to the maximally valuable essence of menstruating beings. May we celebrate and show this cyclical key miracle.
