Rinse

“This painting depicts the scene of my original characters based on tampons and pads, washing off the blood from their clothes in the lake surrounded by poppy flowers under the moonlight. I incorporate symbolic imagery of women with original characters based on feminine products, inspired by Renaissance allegorical paintings, to create a contemporary allegorical story.”

Melody (Yiru) Chen (b. 2001) is a feminist artist from Shanghai, China and a current senior Roski BFA art major with a minor in Media Art + Practice from the School of Cinematic Arts. Through her practice of painting, digital illustration, and photography, she deals with social issues around gender and period shaming, as well as women’s positioning in this patriarchal world. Chen uses objects as symbols to address women’s suffering from their anatomy, pointing out the impact of industrialization on female bodies and insufficient emphasis on sex education in general.

Chen graduates from USC in May 2023 and will continue her practice in the School of Visual Arts MFA Illustration program starting this fall.