R
RAs part of a collection of work that explores making the menopause visible, this piece combines an intuitive painting with three Jesmonite hoops taken from a cast of my body, seated and round from right shoulder to left hip. The contours and varied textured insides of the hoops all intend to communicate the chaotic, ever moving and destabilising experience caused by the hormone imbalance typical of menopause.i
Falling
It is the falling levels of estrogen that are the main cause of many of the symptoms of menopause. The hypothalamus, sited in the brain, triggers the ovaries to release estrogen. The feeling that this precious natural chemical is no longer being produced itself triggers a sense of loss. Like sand through ones fingers, the hourglass of a women’s fertile life is emptying.
