I thought I'd post the See Candy Bleed artist's statement in it's entirety. This is published in the upcoming NY Arts Magazine May/June 2006 issue. I invite all to comment on its pretentiousness. Yes, I did write this myself. No, I didn't expect for them to publish the whole thing.

"SeeCandyBleed.com is an online solo erotic art project that deals with the wonderfully taboo subject of menstruation. I, the artist, go by the name Candy. Some of the images I create are clearly pornography- some are clearly art, and a good deal blur the line between the two. I consider this project to be fairly crude in terms of photography technique- photography is not my specialty, and I don’t claim to be a photographer. I don’t believe that the images on my website are, in and of themselves, anything extraordinary.

We are all sexual beings, even when on our periods. With this project, I intend to try and break down the barriers between what is sexual and what is natural- menstruation. This is fairly uncharted territory- many have tried to redefine sexuality, and some have tried to redefine menstruation- but rarely are these two goals combined. My belief is that if enough people experience SeeCandyBleed.com, some will come away with a new appreciation for women’s bodies- or, at the very least, stop fearing them. Even some menstruating women express apprehension of the thought of having sex while on their period- not to mention the thought of sexualizing it. I have chosen to use material that can be considered either art of pornography: due to the stigma attached to menstrual blood, I would be restricted in my efforts if I required myself to only create “tasteful” art.

I have photographed myself with menstrual blood on my body as well as digitally altered other photographs of myself. I am nude in the majority of these images. The site is centered around these visuals, but they themselves are not the art project.

I consider the true medium of my art project to be the site itself. SeeCandyBleed.com contains a weblog, forum, and extensive section of links. The first page invites people into “the erotic art project” of one girl, while warning them of “extremely graphic” images and text. The web surfer is intrigued- and the artist is absolved of all blame when the surfer decides to enter SeeCandyBleed.com, regardless of the effect the text and images might have on the viewer. SeeCandyBleed.com is not only a digital camera, menstrual blood, and a nude woman- it’s a virtual installation piece. The internet is too vast and too much a part of our day-to-day lives to not take advantage of it as a medium for art.

I have drawn inspiration for SeeCandyBleed.com from a variety of sources. Ana Mendieta is my direct source of influence from the art world. I have a series of images I created as a tribute to her on my site. I also have drawn inspiration from a variety of pornographic websites, notably www.eroticred.com and www.bloodytrixie.com. Visiting them for the first time, the idea of combining both menstruation and erotica occurred to me- I found the idea irresistible. Both of the mentioned websites are created and run by women- something that also inspired me. The world of pornography is dominated by men. These women were businesswomen, pornographers, and loved one of the most taboo things about their bodies. It was an awakening for me. SeeCandyBleed.com was created.

I built SeeCandyBleed.com without aid from anyone else. All photographs are taken by me unless specifically noted. All digital editing and art is done by me. I do all site maintenance and updates. No other person has access to SeeCandyBleed.com- this is truly a one-woman art project.

SeeCandyBleed.com has been mentioned positively on the websites www.janesguide.com and www.fleshbot.com, among others, but only in a pornographic context. It is up to the viewer to decide: is this porn, or is this art? It’s a question that has been brought up repeatedly in the art world, and I see no need to debate it- SeeCandyBleed.com embraces it."