The Unearthings
A Rural Idyll
In the Forest Garden
Inner Landscapes
Absent Presence
Trace
Photomontage
Performative Drawing
Act of Listening
About
@hortus_silvam
single channel colour HD video | 4’00” | sound | text
a woman’s lament*
selfless
wake-up call
loss of fertility
final realisation
loss of possibility
question of timing
worthless feelings
this dictating body
most fundamental loss
when life has revolved around partner and child
empowerment tinged with sadness
period of bereavement
physical cycles cease
reaching middle age
hormonal process
sense of loss
liberation
release
selfish
Against the taboo around menstruation, menstrual blood and the menopause, a disembodied hand in a futile act tries to control the viscosity of blood against the sound of passing time; trying to capture a frantic flurry of mixed emotions, as the blood inevitably ebbs away. An odd sense of loss tangles with a bizarre desire to celebrate. Is this the end of menstruation?
* The text is drawn from the personal expressions of women’s experiences shared on the website healthtalk.org taking the form of a concrete poem.