The Climacteric

A personal journey through the menopause

The Climacteric explores the period in a woman’s life surrounding the menopause. While this is usually a natural transition, it can also be an emotionally and physically challenging time—one that many women find difficult to talk about.

Black-and-white imagery metaphorically represents a sense of “before and after,” marking the transition from fertile to infertile. To interrogate and visualise the chaotic, powerful, and unpredictable emotions experienced, I stage my body in exaggerated poses and introduce colour through self-made emojis as a language of emotion. The work takes the viewer on a journey: beginning with the confusion of the unknown, the images move through feelings of fear, loss, and regret, as well as anger and exhaustion, before arriving at a welcome sense of freedom where anything feels possible. Throughout the series, unexpected red images puncture and disrupt the narrative, symbolising the unwelcome and inopportune heat of a debilitating hot flush.

The Climacteric is my personal journey, but it echoes the voices and experiences of many other women.