Become Part of Herstory
Auntie Mandi?
Yes Harper?
Am I fat?
I'm Sorry, What?
She was 5. I was not prepared for that question so I answered her in art. I wanted to show her the reality of the female form not the Instagram curated version that destroys the creative spark in women.
I personally had struggled with body shame my whole life and the last thing I wanted was that family curse spreading to her.
Wanna help me to change the story for the next generation? Are you willing to get your "girls" out for the girls?
I'm Mandi Lynn and in 2017 I won New Zealand's Creative Photographer of the Year for my exhibition where I covered women in golden clay and photographed them.
In 2024 the journey became a film called Finding Venus which has won several international awards.
The body-positive photography workshop continues, with the goal of collecting 600 images to counter the number of digitally altered images we see daily.
I haven't put on one of these workshops since before COVID. The movie is blowing up around the world so I figured it was time to finish what I started and get the remaining images for the exhibition. Would you like to go on a soulful adventure with me and become one of the "Luscious Order of Golden Shield Maidens." The women who create a wall of golden boobs to protect the next generation from the oppression that impacted us?
It is a powerful workshop that many women have told me has changed their life. On woman describes her life as life before Finding Venus and life after. I can't promise you that. But I will promise you it will be a day you will not soon forget.
This one day Trauma informed workshop for women 18+ takes you on a Creative and powerful mind body and spirit adventure.
We start by mapping and calming your body and mind.
We begin by creating a safe space and we use paints to learn about and map our body herstories.
We learn tools to help settle our nervous system as we prepare to go deeper into our blocks.
10am - 1130
Shifting towards the edges of our comfort zone.
Getting to the juicy bits.
- Step to the line - an exercise in learning our common humanity.
- 3 pages to three words.
- distilling our body story.
- Non Violent Communication (NVC) with ourselves intro.
- Emotions to Needs translation skills.
- Watch the short film Finding Venus + Artist Talk.
- Soothing pair share - how do you bring calm to your system?
- Full body scan + drawing
1130-1pm
Shared Lunch 1-2pm
Creative Stretching our Comfort Zone
Releasing the past and choosing your future.
- Write your three words used against you on your torso.
- Wipe them off
- Replace them with three words of your choosing.
- Bake them in with the golden clay.
- Get photographed for the exhibition.
- Make a chest print from your clay body to take home.
- 3 Word poetry challenge while you wait for everyone to finish.
- Needle felting workshop to keep you entertained while you wait for everyone to finish.
2pm-4 depending on the number of women
Induction into the Luscious Order of Golden Shield Maidens.
- Golden Dance Party
- Final Body Scan + Drawing
- Small group share about the experience.
- Feedback Circle
- Karakia + Waiata
- Goodbyes
4-6pm
Common Questions
Who is the workshop for?
- Those who identify as women aged 18+.
- Those who would like to develop a more compassionate relationship with their body.
- Neurodiverse + Neurotypical.
- Those interested in exploring their stuff in community so they don't feel so alone with it all.
- Those who are ready to peel the next layer of the onion of self-compassion.
- Those who will be okay with the occasional tear shed by ether themselves or others in the workshop.
Who is it not for-
- Those with acute trauma that is so raw that it is not likely to respond well to being in a community.
- Those with acute mental health crisises. Please note I am an artist and somatic coach but not a psychologist. This is not to be done in lieu of getting professional mental health support if you need it.
- People under 18 (however babes in arms are welcome.).
- If you are a single mother with a daughter and have no other options for her, you may bring her, but I'm sorry for the comfort of the other women, no boys over 4 allowed. It can just get weird.
- Ideally though you will find someone to look after your littlies so that you can spend this time holding space for yourself and the other women in the group.
How many spaces are there
- We have room for 40 women to attend.
What do the workshops cost?
This sort of workshop normally costs several hundred dollars. However, Creative Communities has underwritten the majority of the workshop fees, so all you have to pay is $35.00 per person, which covers the art supplies.
Not so fun fact: the latest body shame research shows that, on average, body shame costs a person $6867.00 per year in lost days, mental health, and medical expenses. So, if you shift into a body-love mindset, even by a degree, it will be a bargain.
If you want to come but are unable to cover the $35.00 please reach out to mandi@mandi-lynn.com for a waiver.
If you cannot afford the art supply koha please reach out to me and I will find a way to cover it for you. mandi@mandi-lynn.com