Nell Mitchell

PMS Tears

Jackson's Art Prize 2026
Oil Pastel
Paper
42 x 30 cm

£950

“PMS Tears dates back to about 6 or 7 months before the artwork was made, when, whilst suffering from PMS that would later be diagnosed as PMDD, I decided to take a photo of myself crying in bed. I had a feeling I’d have use for it at some point in the future, and I was right.The best ideas come to me in a moment of revelation, as if I have no control over them. Months after this photograph was captured, I came across it like an old, sad friend whilst scrolling through my camera roll, and decided I needed to depict it in oil pastels. The emotion of the piece speaks with clarity, and I like to see it as a collaborative work with my previous, pre-menstrual, over-emotional self. At the heart of my practice is an intense desire to capture emotions in their rawest forms. In this way, pushing myself to be brave and take vulnerable risks in my work has only provided me and others with comfort and stability, and every time I’ve found myself crying in bed since feels a little less isolating. For me, that’s exactly what making art is about.”