“Very little has changed”: The student using art to challenge perceptions of menopause

Nicky Riding, a final year student at the University’s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD), has said that abusive and judgemental attitudes expressed towards women, along with the horrific murder of Sarah Everard, persuaded her to highlight the plight of many who feel judged, undermined or unsafe in their daily lives.

She has prepared an installation, including sculpture, for the University’s annual Art & Design Undergraduate Degree Show, incorporating images of women from across the UK to highlight the challenges that individuals feel because of menopause, along with the positive experiences that it can facilitate. Titled Gazebo, the finished piece is one of 450 on display as part of the annual celebration of new artistic talent, which runs until Sunday 1 June.

Speaking about her project, Nicky, who lives in Bridge of Allan, said, “I think it’s fair to say that older women are given a rough deal. There is far more value placed on youth in our culture and as a result older women are ignored with little value given to us. This is a conundrum considering there are over 13 million people experiencing menopause in the UK.

“As we age there is a societal pressure on women to try and look young, despite this transformative event that occurs in our lives. All of which happens when an individual may be juggling all or some of raising a family, building a career, supporting elderly parents, maybe health concerns and every other aspect of daily life.

“Throughout my research it was evident that representations of menopause in art and culture in the west overall was very sparse and those representations are not positive. 

“Menopause and its effects are often stereotyped and when I was perimenopausal some 15 years ago it was not openly discussed. The art world has still not caught up to the increased profile given to menopause in the last decade by such influencers as Davina McCall and Mariella Frostrup.”

Nicky’s work has resulted in the creation of two sculptures, collectively known as Gazebo. One is monochrome and incorporates several derogatory terms that Nicky has found are often used to characterise menopausal and post-menopausal people.

The second is technicolour and incorporates images submitted by members of the public. Incorporating the phrase “Do you see me now?” The sculptures embody the freedom Nicky has experienced post-menopause.

It also addresses the issues often felt by her and other midlife women of themes such as invisibility, hypervisibility, stereotypes, fear and the loss of fertility, femineity, and sex appeal.

The motivation to undertake this work stemmed from a belief in the challenges women face and this started in her first year of her course with a real-life tragedy.

“When I started my course, it was in the aftermath of the Sarah Everard murder,” continued Nicky. “The Reclaim the Streets movement was very vocal and the vulnerability of women, even in public spaces, was very much at the forefront of the news. 

“When I undertook my first degree in the 1980s it was just after the Yorkshire Ripper murders and it made me realise that very little has changed for women in the intervening time. That is what triggered my recommitment to gender politics and issues that affect women and how it has influenced and shaped my art practice since.”

While keen to challenge popular misconceptions about menopause, Nicky is also determined to reframe the discussion around the subject. Her technicolour sculpture and the public contributions to it, she hopes, will inspire women to view the menopause as a springboard for the years ahead.

“Experiencing the menopause does present many physical and mental challenges, as it did for me but on the ‘other side’ it can be truly transformative and it is certainly not one that people must fear,” she added.

“It is a new stage in life that can also be liberating. For most the aftermath of menopause coincides with a time where we have the knowledge and wisdom to focus on what we want to do with the rest of our lives. Personally, I used it as a stepping stone to return to education here at Dundee. 

“My menopause has empowered me and hopefully my art can help others to feel the same and prompt a vocal conversation to make the invisible, visible.”

DJCAD’s Art & Design Undergraduate Degree Show is open daily from 10am to 4pm, until Sunday 1 June. A late opening takes place on Thursday 29 May.