I've been delving deeper into the reasons why I am using the materials I am using. I feel like in my work I tend to use materials and concepts I am very uncomfortable with. This started with my work with reliquaries, specifically with my Ant Reliquary:
When I was younger my mom handed me a bag full of hygiene products, briefly explained what they were for, and that was it. We never talked about it again. I've never felt comfortable with the whole menstruation thing. So when I beaded that pad, and saw how cool it looked, I thought that there is no time but the present to become comfortable with a process that I will be dealing with for the next 40 years (if family history is any indication). Reading about it, searching about how it's handled the world over, and directly exploring the products associated with menses, has made me much more comfortable with the whole thing. I feel like i've overcome something that I should have been comfortable with from the beginning. And that allows me to continue to work with these products in more ways and to push the work as far as it needs to go.
This is what i've been looking at:
