Sheela na Gig! 

UPDATE: This blog entry was originally published September 2022. You can shop new items from this collection here: Sheela na Gig

A mysterious acrobatic figure of exaggerated female proportions. She is specifically showing off a gigantic vulva. Often bald, with sagging breasts, sometimes skeletal, she is believed to be a crone. However sometimes she is depicted with large pendulous breasts and a swollen fertile stomach, or breasts fleeing to her armpits or no breasts at all. Some are reported to don beards and might even be male. They are stone carvings most often found on churches and other large important buildings across Europe, with the largest concentration in Ireland. Similar figures are found all over the world.

Mostly dated to the 12^th century, there is quite a bit of disagreement on their purpose and function: a Christian warning of the sin inherent in sex, a pre-Christian fertility mother goddess religion, protection against evil, a memento mori to be placed above doors and windows, or a stonemason’s joke. The wide variety of facial expressions compounds the mystery: staring, startled, joyful, grotesque, and more.

Shop the Collection: MAUT Designs on Threadless — Sheela na Gig

You can shop new items from this collection here: Sheela na Gig

My OB/GYN confirmed that I had entered perimenopause earlier this year. I have entered the crone stage of life. What does that mean? What does that look like? I’ve read several articles musing about the anthropological significance of menopausal women. “What is the evolutionary role of a post-reproductive lifespan?” “What’s the point of postmenopausal women in the culture?” What is the point of my life without children?

I have numerous precut watercolor cards that I am using to create the Sheela na Gigs in a variety of mediums, playing with poses, expressions, moods, and colors. As I have always used my own body as an anatomical reference (I am my own best model–always available) I found a bodily freedom in exploring the Sheela. I can breathe. I feel powerful. 

There will be more to come.