By Andrea Park, Allure
Cinta Tort Cartró wants you to embrace your stretch marks, period stains and everything else that society asks people to hide.
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The
21-year-old artist, who works under the name Zinteta, and resides in a
small town outside of Barcelona, Spain, has taken it upon herself to
simultaneously protest sexism and educate her community (and 13,000 Instagram followers)
about feminism with her work. Some of her most recent, empowering
projects include filling in women's stretch marks with rainbow colors,
painting vibrant, multicolored explosions on women's underwear and legs
to celebrate and normalize menstruation, and photographing women with
flowers covering their breasts in her own beautiful interpretation of
the "#freethenipple" movement.
"It all started as a form of expression, but it quickly
turned into social commentary of the male-dominated culture we live in,"
Cartró told Yahoo! Beauty
about her particular brand of artwork. "There are many things happening
in my town that I couldn't be silent on, such as the male
microaggression toward the female body. I know there are countries that
have it worse than here in Spain, but I couldn't stay silent." Her
period-centric series is entitled "#manchoynomedoyasco," which
translates to "I stain myself, and I'm not grossed out by it," according
to Yahoo! Beauty. "We live in 2017. Why is there still stigma revolving around periods?" Cartró said of her inspiration for the ongoing project.
[post_ads]Cartró
— who recently graduated from the University of Barcelona with a degree
in teaching and plans to pursue a master's degree in illustration —
said she was influenced by her own experiences to create art celebrating
aspects of the female body that society deems shameful. "I grew up
feeling sometimes out of place. I'm tall and big, so it's important for
me to state in my art that everyone is beautiful and those 'flaws' are
not that," she said. "They make us unique and special."
The feminist artist
has also used her paintbrush to tackle racism and xenophobia: Not only
does she paint and photograph women of all races and ethnicities, but
she also recently posted a photo
in which women of different races, each with an anatomically correct
heart painted on their bodies, embrace in a tight hug. "I don't like the
way foreigners are treated sometimes here. I'm all about embracing
those that need help so everyone can live a great life," she said.
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