Spiritual Pregnancy

A performance of transitional distance condensed into a single moment. The litmus paper is rolled up to allow the viewer to experience a length of time in one moment.

Litmus paper is a reactive recording device. It’s colour changes from yellow to red in the presence of citric acid. Iron oxide is printed onto the surface through the action of walking. These traces are an iteration of the journey.

condensed/ captured/ contained/ compressed/ compacted

Iron Oxide Tattoo Ink, Citric Acid, Litmus Paper, Bowl, Body

Using modern Tattooing techniques to reflect ancient fertility scarification. Introducing traits of toxic femininity through the use of citric acid (an allergen) of which I feel mirrors my relationship with my own womanhood.  Recording traces of conflicting materials on reactive litmus paper.

Photographs by Anwen Howells

This action was a preparation for the performance ‘Reel of Litmus Paper’. I tattooed the soles of my feet using homemade iron oxide tattoo ink (powdered ore), the recipe of which interpreted from ancient tattooing process. The use of this organic pigment was to reflect tattooing and scarification ritually used to highlight fertility. Iron has a fertile nature and I found a delicacy in it’s raw form. By using iron in my chosen ink I was able to transfer it’s fertile connotations into my own skin, piercing and depositing fertility.

I tattooed a line of lemon pips down each sole, bringing a connection to earth and to the fertile quality of seeds. My intention was to walk and have the outlines of these seeds print themselves on the reel of paper.

The beauty of this ink is that it fades over time, it’s presence is fleeting. The duration of the performance is when the ink is at it’s darkest and concentrated. There is a sense of heightened fertility at this time. After the performance the ink has faded, after a month the ink has disappeared completely.

Photography by Anwen Howells

Tibetan healing practices describe the physical experience as a: ‘continuous interaction between the second body and the dense, material human body’. The second body is often referred to as the astral form, soul or mental body that is intertwined with the physical.

This division is recognised as the subtle material and the gross material organism, spiritual and corporeal forms that run parallel to one another.

According to Tibetan philosophy the bodies coincide at the nerve fibres and blood vessels, winding themselves around each other. This brings a second level to sensation and presence. Aiding the ability to experience spiritual pregnancy and introspection.

As they are so closely linked, physical issues with the body can sometimes be treated through mindfulness and meditation, an engagement with the second body.

Fibromyalgia is a mental condition, more common in women, whereby the brain chemically alters the way nerves and the spinal chord communicate pain signals. Signals are often repeated or distorted, triggered by stress and injury. This often causes pain sensations that are no longer relevant to injured tissue or completely random sensations that spread unnecessarily.

We could view physical sensation as true and mental sensation as false. For me, fibromyalgia acts as a mediator between function and perception.  It makes the judgement of true and false nerve endings difficult but acts as a connection to the second level of sensation.