#christenclifford iwantyourblood menstrualbloodinart feministart menstrualblood blood

[1wantyour3lood]

The piece is feminine and delicate, but upon closer examination the thick blood swirling in the bottles nevertheless triggers a feeling of disgust.

-artnet

[1wantyour3lood]

IWANTYOURBLOOD is an installation of 25 glass shelves holding hundreds of miniature perfume bottles filled with donated menstrual blood from all genders.

Photo is a close up of a central shelf. My mother’s Chanel bottle is on the far right. The large bottle in the back is a full sized bottle of Shalimar that one of my brothers gave to my mother. After she died, I kept her bottle of Shalimar, and her empty Chanel No 5 bottle. When I started using a menstrual cup, I started experimenting with saving my menstrual blood: plastic containers, glass containers, vials,  medical specimen jars. 

One day I decided to add the blood to the half full bottle of Shalimar. I used this as a blessing for myself, and sometimes when I did performance art or installations I would offer it to my audience. It was magical, this mixture of my mother’s perfume and my menstrual blood.

I had been a “perfume girl” as a teenager growing up, dressed in my best black dress and pumps, dousing passersby with Nikki de Saint Phalle. So I started collecting perfume bottles, and filling them with my blood. Then, as with so many of my projects, the work expands past my body to include other bodies, all colors and genders, any menstruating body.

It was shown in the group show Abortion Is Normal at Gallerie Eva Presenhuber, in 2020, curated by Jasmine Wahi and Rebecca Jampol. This show also had work by Marilyn Minter and Nan Goldin!