I’ve been saying for some time that I would like to add another PMDD illustration to my shop, but I was struggling to find a new approach the subject. I had already explored the feeling of being trapped in your own body and the need to remember that it will pass in my previous images. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to focus on the conflicted feelings I have toward my body.
I am so incredibly grateful to have conceived, grown and sustained my two beautiful children with minimal trouble, but the exact same part of my body that achieved such magic and wonder, is torturing me now that they have been born. It is my dual blessing and curse.
So, I pulled up some medical diagrams of the female reproductive system and doodled all over them until I had a sketch that I felt could portray this dual concept of feminine beauty and pain. As a side note, I chose apple blossoms as they supposedly represent fertility and tried to keep the colours as close to the original medical diagrams as possible.
At this point the illustration took on a slightly classical look that had me nicknaming it ‘Bruterus’ in my head. I started out with PMDD in mind, but now that it is complete, it rings true for everything from endometriosis to uterine prolapse – the hidden, taboo pains that so many women and AFAB are left to carry alone.
This print is available in my shop and, as always, 50% of its proceeds will be donated to the International Association for Premenstrual Disorders (formerly the Gia Allemand Foundation). You can read more about this wonderful organisation here.
And if you have PMDD, know someone who has PMDD or have never even heard of PMDD before, please check out the amazing video Me v PMDD released below.