Destigmatizing Menstruation through Art

Jen Lewis, artist of Beauty in Blood will give a free, public talk titled "Destigmatizing Menstruation through Art" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 19, 2017, in Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, Faulconer Gallery.

Lewis’ project, "Beauty in Blood," is a conceptual feminist art project aimed at reducing the stigma of menstruation. She works with her partner, photographer Rob Lewis, to capture and select photographs of her menstrual blood being poured over various clear vessels. By using menstrual blood as her medium, Lewis hopes to normalize menstruation and show that it is a healthy part of life.

"Frankly, I do not think there is any place in modern society for taboo subjects, especially in as far as women are concerned," she says. "Pacifying social taboos only serves to give more power to society than to the self, and as women we have done that for far too long. The time is now to shut down the long-held shame and squeamishness surrounding menstruation.

"My work," she adds, "quashes this taboo, reclaims feminine power, and puts this subject on the pedestal it so rightly deserves. The images I capture force the viewer to think about menstruation in an entirely new way. Capturing the artful quality of this natural occurrence is my way of progressing society's view and conversation around menstruation as well as redefining some traditional fine arts aesthetic notions."

The Faulconer Gallery Artists@Grinnell series and Grinnell College's Sexual Health and Information Center are sponsoring the exhibition.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and admission is free. The Faulconer Gallery is in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 1108 Park St., Grinnell.