Bloodwork Exhibition

Virtual Exhibition:

• Artist Talk & Exhibition Walk-Through
• 360º Virtual Tour
• Hand-lettered Artist demonstration, “We don’t owe you pretty”
• Hand-lettered Artist demonstration, “Science is real“

Instagram: @mindfully.unapologetic | YouTube: YouTube Channel | Facebook: www.facebook.com/carly.swenson.artist/

**ARTIST TALK:** Click here to listen to a more in-depth explanation of this body of work and guided walk-through of my exhibition.

Artist Statement excerpt:

Let me explain—about the blood. Yes, it’s real. Yes, it’s mine. It’s gross, but not that gross, because half the population is used to it. Periods don’t scare us, they’re an annoyance at best. As awkward as this artistic medium is, it’s integral to my work. It’s an incredibly normal aspect of life that’s often unacknowledged, misunderstood, or shamed for from a young age. We’re taught to minimize this aspect of our lives for the comfort of a patriarchal society, in the same way those who identify as female are culturally gaslighted, taught to downplay and minimize our own lived experiences with casual sexism, sexual harassment, misogyny, and rape culture…
(Read more)

[It’s important to emphasize, that menstruation is not what defines a woman. Plenty of women don’t have cycles due to physiological or medical issues. Some men and non-binary people also menstruate. This is project of self expression and periods have a personal significance to me as an artist. I’m not making any statement defining women or womanhood. However, I hope some of my work will resonate with others regardless of sex or gender.]

The use of blood in this series is multifaceted. Here are the more in-depth personal associations and conceptual significance of my choice in medium.

About the blood: Part I • Blood Introduction
About the blood: Part II • Internal Pain
About the blood: Part III • Feminist Anger

Works from this exhibition are available for purchase, and 50% of all art sales from September & October 2020 will be equally divided and donated to National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, National Center for Transgender Equality, and The Bail Project.

Portraits:

Donald Trump: A very scary time… (Artist interpretation)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: When there are nine. (Artist interpretation)
George Floyd: Two Hundred Individuals (Artist interpretation)
Savanna LaFontaine Greywind: Thousands Missing & Murdered (Artist interpretation)
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: I am someone’s daughter too (Artist interpretation)
Brett Kavanaugh: I thought that Brett was accidentally going to kill me (Artist interpretation)