Introducting Margaret Kalms

Recently a new artist has emerged for the Agency, her name is Margaret Kalms. Having met this practicing Christian and environmental biologist by training and seen some of her work I assure you she does portray this challenging topic in a most artistic, innovative and tasteful manner. Her explanation of her photography and images can be found below.

David Rutherford

“I am Canberra Institute of Technology trained in both photography and desk top publishing. I sell greeting cards of nature photography at Gorman House and CSIRO Discovery and have regularly done studio style portraiture as fundraisers. I have had several photographs published in magazines in Britain. For over three years I photographed newborn babies in Canberra’s hospitals.

This current body of work looks at the portrayal of women’s bodies. I am motivated by the conviction that we are all “Fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14) created by God in a beautiful and intricate way. We do not need to feel shame. These images aim to give women positive images of their bodies and confer respect.

In many ways menstruation is a taboo topic. Each woman is expected to hide all physical evidence. She is reluctant to talk about how she feels even if she is in pain or has medical issues. This secrecy causes a lot of inconvenience for women. Secrecy can even lead to health issues being ignored causing unnecessary suffering. Some of these health issues are life threatening.

This work is expressing some of the feelings and ideas women feel about menstruation using pictorial symbolism. I aim to show how beautiful and expressive this ordinary experience can be. This beauty will counteract some of the derogatory imagery found in slang. Menstruation should be a celebration of creative life because without it, women would not be fertile and there would be no new life. This work gives women a new, beautiful way to look at their bodies’ functions.

Blood marks our major life events. We are born in blood, we begin adulthood in blood, we begin our sex lives in blood, we begin parenting in blood. I celebrate this blood.

I have a variety of ideas in my head to express. Also I would enjoy working with a model who has ideas and agrees with the broad aims of this project. There is room for co-operative creativity from the models.

Exhibitions;
•       “Polychromatica” March 2006,
•       “Living in Canberra” October 2006,
•       “Plan Art and Craft Show” November 2006,
•       “Calendar Girls” 2007,
and published in "Calendare Girls" 2007 Calendar.

Some of the images I have exhibited using female models:

One in a Million No-one knows exactly when pregnancy will happen, it is a chance event like a lottery. The big red ball represents the red swollen womb of full term pregnancy and also the big red ball of Lotto. Only one in millions of sperm creates the new life. New life is a happy celebration like winning Lotto.

Every Month Woman’s periods are often similar duration to the lunar month. The phases of the moon, and the phases of her fertility surround the woman. The full breasts of an adult woman are like the roundness of the full moon. The crescent moon repeats the shape of the shadow under a woman’s breast.

Fertility is a Gift The woman is wrapped as a gift, yet she feels a knot in her womb during her period.

Burning Pain Period pain can feel like burning inside

In order to continue this project, I am looking at hiring models with a range of body types, ages and ethnicity. ‘Imperfections’ such as stretch marks as a result of pregnancy add to my message. Some of my ideas require varying levels of nudity, but certainly not all."