Break Piece II

Break Piece II translates the softness of a menstrual pad into ceramic form in order to step on it and express frustration regarding the financial access, (in)visibility and taboo of female hygiene products. It illustrates this process through the tension created through the progression of three photographs; first exhibiting an unbroken pad – and then ending on the pad crushed. Thus, the work uses the triptych form as an instrument for storytelling by referencing moving image. Additionally, the high contrast of the images is weaponised to create drama and ambiguity, as the subject (the pad) is resultantly mysterious. This is inspired by Judy Chicago’s, Red Flag (1971), where a tampon is first depicted in art, shocking viewers and confusing non- menstruating viewers as to what the subject was.