Reframing An Old Taboo
by Vanessa Tiegs
Why Create Art Using This Medium?
The medium is the message.
~ Marshall McLuhan
The Medium Holds Power to Reshape Human Consciousness
by deconstructing negative conditioning honed on girls all over the world.
The Medium is Invisible & Silenced
while women face it without adequate support systems in health or education.
Served to the Vatican
a testament to how powerful the medium is. October Flight (Menstrala No. 42) was requested and served to the Vatican's website domain the following month on November 9th, 2002.
Menstrala are academically recognized decades after the genesis collection of 88 paintings were created by Vanessa Tiegs in 2000.
Cycle Logically Psychological Artworks
expose society's attitude toward the monthly renewal process.
A World Stage
The art movement showed girls a valid means of expression to deflect their socially conditioned shame. Girls could define their sexuality, identity and experience of bleeding. Some contributed to the academic movement, while others kept their expressions as private journals.
Awareness of menstrual poverty rose with the increasing need for programs in middle schools that would validate girls' first rite of passage & introduce practices of Mindful Menstruation.
Outdated Values Replaced
Menstrala support educational health programs, such as CeMCOR's Endowment Fund. The Centre for Menstrual Cycle & Ovulation Research at the University of British Columbia promotes new medical standards in women's health.
Memes
Two months after their public unveiling in September 2000, the LiveJournal of Spiraling Moon Pain-Things ignited a slew of memes on Metafilter.com.
Film Appearances
Menstrala appeared in film productions.
Period: The End of Menstruation
Moon Inside You
A Flowering Tree
1st International Menstrala Competition, 2014
With Over 100 Entries
In 2014, the University of Mexico organized the 1st International Menstrala Competition.
Vanessa Tiegs was invited to the jury as a judge.
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