In an ongoing lyrical exploration into human and non-human nature, Alice examines and experiments within the relationship between the ancient landscape that surrounds her and the materiality of photography, exposing the natural cycles and examining the fate of not preserving the base of everything, the land from which we come. Alice's recent work exposes the intricacies of the intimate cyclical connections between women, celestial bodies, and the land. Alice's work utilisises the ancient light of the moon alongside cameraless analogue techniques to, quite literally, shed light on and visualise this knowledge of the sexual and reproductive female body that became lost to women in the face of modern medicine. These skills in healing, caring for and maintaining women’s bodies were deemed to be a threat to those in power within patriarchal societies; it was seen as Witchcraft.

 

Healing has always been regarded as the natural responsibility of women. With techniques learned and passed down through history, observed from one woman and passed on. But because women were excluded from academic institutions, female healers of the past had little opportunity to contribute to the science of medicine. Instead, they served as herbalists, midwives,  nurses, and empirics; the traditional healers. Untutored in medicine, they used botanical-based therapies and traditional home remedies, amongst many other techniques derived from their ancient native understanding of the land. Their remedies and medicines, made up of predominately plant matter, brought a lot of superstition, lack of understanding, and suspected charlatanism. Research shows the women from as early as ancient Egyptian times to the fifteenth century had relied on an extensive pharmacopeia of herbal abortifacients and contraceptives to regulate fertility. But why, if women once had access to effective means of birth control, was this knowledge lost to them in modern times? 

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The cycles of the moon determine our monthly and yearly calendars, with an ancient light that has ruled our lives since the beginning of time. The changes that come with each passing moon have been seen to indicate the times for planting, harvesting, hunting, and gathering, reflecting the close connection between cycles of the moon and plants and non-human life. The moon has also always been seen as a female energy, connected with fertility and similarities have been found between the menstrual cycle and the lunar cycle. The inner rhythms of the menstruating body have been considered to synchronise with those inner rhythms of the moon. Menstruating bodies mirror the moon's waxing and waning stages of approximately fourteen days, producing a twenty-eight-day cycle equal to the average menstrual cycle. To go through a cycle of new growth is consistent with these ancient cyclical ideas of ovulation, flowering, harvest, degeneration, and replenishment. This period of change or transformation in the menstruating body is in tune with lunar energies, a celestial relationship that dates back to the beginning of evolution when beings were exposed to moon cycles for thousands of years before being exposed to artificial light. In an environment with solely natural light - solar and lunar, menstruating bodies were found to do so on the new moon and ovulated on the full moon, linking with fertility and harvest, all timed to the natural rhythms. 

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