VISUAL ART

Portland Artist Makes Headlines for Painting Donald Trump in Menstrual Blood

A Portland artist has become a viral phenomenon after a portrait she painted of Donald Trump set fire to the Internet.

By Fiona McCann September 16, 2015

Blood trump znalrx

Wherever, by Sarah Levy

A Portland artist who painted a portrait of Donald Trump in her menstrual blood has become a viral sensation, the image appearing on BuzzFeed and the New York Times website, and saturating social media since its September 12 appearance.

Trump drew the ire of pretty much everyone following comments he made to Fox News host Megyn Kelly last month, implying that her line of questioning was “off base” because she was on her period. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes," he later said. "Blood coming out of her wherever.”

Women on Twitter decided to call him out by tweeting pictures of their periods and comments to Trump using the hashtag #periodsarenotaninsult. Levy decided to go one better. “I thought that was a great idea,” she told Portland Monthly on Wednesday, September 16. “And I thought it could go a little further.”

So when her period arrived a few weeks later, she decided to use the blood as painting material—for a portrait of Trump himself. She tweeted her painting adding that if someone wanted to buy it, proceeds would go to an immigrants rights organization, because, as she says on her blog “ol’ Don would hate that.”

The image was picked up by BuzzFeed, which prompted a media scramble the former Lincoln High student is still in the middle of. “I didn’t realize what would happen after BuzzFeed. I am surprised and impressed that yesterday it was the trending piece on Google news,” she says. “Basically I just think the whole thing is hilarious. And now that people are paying attention, I’m trying to use the spotlight to say things that should be said.”

On the Socialist Worker website, she elaborates. "It might seem like a small thing, but I think that an issue like menstrual shame is related to the overall body shame that many girls and women in our society are raised to feel as a matter of course. So fighting this shame is one small step toward raising a generation of confident women who have the courage to fight for equality for themselves and others."

She’s now thinking about making it a portrait series, and her targets aren’t all male. “If I continue to do a ‘Blood on their hands’ face series, I’ll definitely be doing Hilary Clinton’s portrait as well,” she says.

Filed under
Share
Show Comments