For my Undergraduate final year project, I investigated Bracha L. Ettinger’s Matrixial theory. My work centred around the maternal connection we all, as humans, have to the uterus. Ettinger’s theory posits that we can communicate on different levels and frequencies, not limited to language and therefore we can transcend traditionally held borders. The trace connections and threads of memory associated with pre-birth and birth interest me. Fluids and matter associated with the uterus are used as media to interrogate their association with the abject.
The work has also been informed by a personal narrative of my journey through menstruation from early teens to date. 432 torn fabriano squares were hand torn and painted, each represented a menstrual period from the age of 13 to date of work. These were painted using my own blood, some were left unpainted to represent pregnancies, losses and traumatic events.
Detail of Red Tent
Words Written on Squares
I kept diaries throughout the years I tried to get pregnant, these diaries were suspended in nets from the ceiling, represented yet hidden. I painted a series of navel paintings to investigate the constant maternal connection we all share, these were cropped and mounted on raised platforms to emphasise the umbilical connections.
These were mounted on a plinth I designed so that they were proud of the wall when hung. This was designed to represent the continuing umbilical connection to the maternal.