Red Cocoon centers on female bodily experience, originating from an inquiry into the pain and silence surrounding menstruation. The work explores how menstrual blood embodies both physical discomfort and personal identity. Through the tactile language of fiber, it seeks to render private physiological experiences perceptible, challenging the long-standing cultural silence around menstruation.
Using wool, jute, silk, naturally dyed silk cocoons, and viscose fiber, the artist employs wet felting to create an organic, cocoon-like form. The surface of the felt is soft, flowing, and enveloping—evoking skin, warmth, and the cyclical rhythms of life. In contrast, coarse plant fibers occasionally protrude from the surface, producing a subtle sensation of prickliness beneath the softness. This tactile tension reflects the layered experience of menstruation: the coexistence of gentle containment and persistent internal pain.
The red fibers evoke blood and the memory of the body, allowing sensations of pain, resilience, and emotional memory to coalesce in a layered structure. The use of silk cocoons refers to transformation and regeneration, symbolizing the ongoing cycle of rupture and renewal that defines female growth and self-formation. Here, the cocoon becomes not only a form but a metaphor for protection, vulnerability, and emergence.
Red Cocoon weaves together softness and sting to convey the unspoken poetics of the female experience. It positions the body as a site of identity and cultural memory, inviting viewers to engage with its intimate yet universal language. Through fiber as a sensory and emotional medium, the work gives form to what is often left invisible—offering both a space for reflection and a call for recognition.
