Let's Celebrate  2024

Medium: Sculpture

Materials: Candle, Sanitary Products

 

When I got my first period, my mom bought me a piece of cake and told me it was something worth celebrating—a milestone marking my transition into adulthood and womanhood. However, as I grew older and gained more life experience, I began to question this celebration. I became increasingly aware of issues surrounding menstruation: the high prices and low quality of sanitary products, the stigma and shame surrounding periods, the belief that period blood is "dirty," and myths like using tampons will destroy virginity. In some cultures, a girl’s first period signals readiness for marriage, even as a child.

 

Menstruation is no longer just a biological process—it has been transformed into a societal marker of fertility and, disturbingly, of a woman’s commodification. It made me ask: who is really celebrating?

 

In response, I created a large cake made of tampons and lit its candles while playing a typical celebratory Chinese song, “Wishing You Happiness Always and Forever.” As the cake burned, it became a haunting metaphor for the suffering hidden beneath the veneer of celebration. This work critiques the societal pressures and contradictions surrounding menstruation, fertility, and the commodification of female bodies.