GINA SGRENCI




PORTFOLIO
  •         I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, home to one of the world’s most esteemed programs in depth psychology. As part of my academic journey, I have recently selected my thesis topic, which centers on the psychological impact of the menstrual cycle on mental health. This area of inquiry is deeply personal to me, informed by my own experiences navigating mental health challenges, including instances of misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment. Through my work, I aim to support women in reconnecting with their cycles and dismantling the stigma surrounding menstruation—particularly the aspects that are often misrepresented, misunderstood, or overlooked. My creative projects explore the embodied experience of menstruation, drawing on themes such as the aesthetics and symbolism of bleeding, cultural myths about the power of menstrual blood, and the deep, often invisible networks of connection shared among those who bleed. Through this lens, I seek to reveal the intimate, interwoven relationships that link our bodies, stories, and healing.
    INTENTION
    This body of work is an expression of my recent interests, questions, dreams
    My next goals in this body of work are to deepen my exploration of menstrual blood as a sacred, ancestral link, weaving personal and collective histories into an evolving visual and performative installation.

    Drawing from my background in Depth Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, where the symbolic, the archetypal, and the mythic are integral frameworks, I approach menstruation not simply as a biological event, but as a portal to the unconscious and a generational continuum. I see the menstrual cycle as a psychospiritual event — a ceremony of shedding, renewal, death, and rebirth — that connects women across time and space.

    Using different aspects of the bleeding process, I have created performances and photo works where bodies interact with these threads in acts of weaving, unraveling, and offering. The yarn acts as both a visceral and symbolic material: binding women together, tying them to the Earth, and embodying the invisible genealogies that live within their bodies.

    • Performance art: Movment, Ritualistic actions with yarn, fabric, and natural materials (soil, water, blood-symbolic substances)

    • Photography: Staged yet organic images capturing the vulnerability, power, and beauty of these acts

    • Video art: Slow, meditative films documenting the process of weaving, bleeding, offering, and mourning

    • Audio: Potential layering of recorded stories from other women about their experiences with menstruation and ancestral memory









     TAMPON JEWELRY


    The Tampon Jewelry project emerged from conversations around bodily autonomy, shame, and performative femininity—particularly the experiences of women working in strip clubs or wearing bathing suits, who were often warned not to “get caughtwith their string out.” A common workaround involved cutting the string at the base of the tampon, a practice that, while discreet, posed health risks by increasing the chance of the tampon becoming lodged and forgotten. This sparked a question in me: What if being caught with your string out wasn’t something to hide—but something to celebrate? What if it couldbe reimagined as an act of fashion, expression, and empowerment? I began creating tampon attachments adorned with beads and charms, transforming them into wearable statements. I paired these objects with a series of playful, subversive faux-advertisement campaigns and showcased the work in a gallery setting. This project blends humor, activism, and aesthetic exploration to challenge taboos around menstruation and reclaim visibility for a natural, powerful bodily function. 















     THE RED TENT
     

    I have drawn deep inspiration from The Red Tent by Anita Diamant, a novel that reclaims and reimagines the menstrual tent referenced in biblical texts—a space where women were considered “unclean” and sent during their cycle. Diamant writes: “In the red tent, the truth is known. In the red tent where days pass like a gentle stream, as the gift of Inanna courses through us, cleansing the body of last month's death, preparing the body to receive the new month's life, women give thanks—for repose and restoration, for the knowledge that life comes from between our legs and that life costs blood.” This poetic vision stirs vital questions within me: What truly happened in that space? Who presided over it? What traditions were passed from one bleeding woman to another? What wisdom, what rituals, what magic stirred in that circle of pause and power? My next installation will explore these mysteries—honoring the red tent not as a site of exile, but as a sacred portal of connection, story, and embodied knowing.







    A note about the diamond fabric on the crotch. I wanted to create a fake blood spot that is fashionable. How many times have girls gone hone from school, or women left work becaue they bled through their pants?  What if we just placed a red diamond on our crotch to let people know we were bleeding? What if we just wore it in solidarity with other bleeders? 




    THE WEB WE WEAVE


    As women, we carry within us the invisible threads of connection — to each other, to our ancestors, and to the earth itself. This shoot, The Web We Weave, explores how menstrual blood serves as a symbol of life, lineage, and nourishment. It is not just a biological function, but a sacred offering, a physical link to the countless generations of women who came before us.
    Using vivid red yarn to symbolize menstrual blood, the yarn visually maps the intricate ways we are bound together — sister to sister, mother to daughter, earth to body. The act of weaving together these threads in communal spaces echoes the traditional gatherings where women shared stories, wisdom, and healing practices around menstruation. In reclaiming this lost sacredness, the work also addresses modern estrangement from the cycles of the body and from communal female spaces.











    ABOUT A BLEEDER







    Gina Sgrenci is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and scholar whose work blurs the boundaries between the primal and the symbolic, the personal and the collective. Through photography, video, performance, and ritual, she reclaims the body as a sacred site of ancestry, memory, and transformation.

    With a BA in Dance Performance from the University of Montana and as a current master's student in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Gina weaves somatic intelligence, archetypal exploration, and visual storytelling into a body of work that is at once visceral and mythic.
    Her professional role as a Senior Film Editor at Shft Media deepens her artistic practice, sharpening her ability to craft emotionally resonant narratives that move fluidly between personal experience and collective myth.

    Her work confronts cultural taboos surrounding menstruation, sexuality, and feminine power, film and photos to map the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Her recent mutli-media exhibitions, explore the menstrual cycle as a site of nourishment, mourning, and ancestral remembrance — a bridge between past and future generations.

    Gina invites viewers into liminal spaces where the personal becomes political, and the body becomes a prayer.

    See her film work here


    ginasgrenci.tv
    https://ginamluccia.myportfolio.com/