Welcome to my body of work
What does the womb mean to you?
To me, for years, it was synonymous with a curse, some kind of unresolved bad karma from previous lifetimes that I had to endure to repay my debts.
I used to have incredibly painful periods and a very lacklustre relationship to my body. Often it’s complexities felt too intense, and anyway I’d always be caught up in my head, hardly able to drop into my body.
In rebuilding my relationship to pleasure I brought the principle of following my ‘yes’ into my artwork. Not just on a conceptual level, but in my body. What were my internal signals telling me? Not this good girl love-and-light way of presenting myself, but what did I really want?
When I started following my yes I found a way of painting that was automatic and instinctual. I realised that I craved red, contrast, and symbols that felt intimidatingly simple. I reached a part of myself that was undeniable. Confronting, but real.
Which brings me to my current darker work. One of the most fascinating things about it is that in following my yes in my art, my body feels overall much healthier, more relaxed. My cycles are not just less painful, but very pleasurable. I notice and enjoy each phase, I understand how I am behaving and how it relates to my body because I’m actually present, not constantly trying to perform and keep up with goals at the expense of my truth.
I realise that in fully accepting and listening to my womb, exactly as it is and not how I’d like it to be, my body has benefitted enormously. The curiosity I bring to my painting sessions: what can painting with honesty and unabashed desire make possible for you?
Theodora Price
Oil painter, womb art facilitator, London & Surrey
Theodora Price is an oil painter rooted in Surrey, England. Her work emerges from the body, carrying raw, instinctive marks and symbols that speak to the dark feminine, the animal within, and the deep landscape of the womb. Her paintings have found their way into spaces like Nerve Zine, the Universal Love exhibition at Newhouse Art Space, and Freedom to Feel at The Lightbox. Alongside her own practice, she holds space for others through workshops and one-to-one sessions, inviting women to explore what stories their womb holds, all while staying close to her own art process.
