Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.

Art Murmur: A World of Painted Blood, Part 2

"Woman's Red Dress." Photo courtesy of Pink Porcupine.
"Woman's Red Dress." Photo courtesy of Pink Porcupine.

The blood painters — as introduced in part one — have become entranced by this medium for differing reasons.

The first time some artists  even painted with blood, it was an unplanned experience.

"This is my heart." Photo courtesy of Gehena.

Julia from Spain, like the other artists interviewed before, uses her blood art as a form of venting. She, Skaret, and Kalina Reger use “fursonas,” original animal characters used to represent themselves,  in their blood paintings.

“My fursona is called Gehena. She is a fox-wolf," Julia says. "I draw her in my blood paintings cause it’s like drawing myself, suffering or being punished cause it’s what I’m feeling at the moment I’m drawing those pictures. I just draw them when I feel bad.”

Most experiences with blood painting differ, but the intentions are similar. Artists use the medium to express their feelings.

Bonnie, who paints with her menstrual blood, also had therapeutic motives for venturing into this area of art:

“I wanted to combine my art — something positive for me — with something that has given me a lot of pain," she says. "I’ve never been disgusted or afraid of blood, so it didn't strike me as being repulsive. The fact that the blood is menstrual blood is irrelevant to me with those paintings.”

"Woman's Red Dress." Photo courtesy of Pink Porcupine (Bonnie).

As one can imagine, blood painting has not been very widely accepted by society.

Yet Bonnie offers encouraging words to artists who may consider experimenting with this medium.

“As long as you aren’t hurting anyone, it shouldn’t matter if others are disgusted or offended by your choice of medium," she says. "I think that painting with blood is extremely intimate: you are using a medium that has literally flowed through your heart and your brain. It’s a piece of yourself.”

 

 

Do you know of any interesting art, entertainment or crafts you’d like me to cover? Tweet me at @DamianoAlec or email me at Alec.Damiano@asu.edu. To see some of my artwork, click here.


Continue supporting student journalism and donate to The State Press today.

Subscribe to Pressing Matters



×

Notice

This website uses cookies to make your experience better and easier. By using this website you consent to our use of cookies. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.