A series of four hand- and machine-embroidered works on vintage linen, lace and tulle, making reference to the close and contradictory bond women have with their wombs. They were inspired by Bodyform / Libresse’s award-winning #wombstories campaign (2020), which gathered real people’s testimonials of menstruation, fertility, loss and menopause. De Villiers was invited to respond to the campaign’s written testimonials; her embroideries were shown in its Instagram rollout with those testimonials overlaid, while the framed originals themselves carry no text. They have since been shown in Threaded — Interlacing Womxn at the Association of Arts, Pretoria (Women’s Month, 2023), and during Woordfees at the CraftArt Gallery, Stellenbosch (2025).

The twofold discomfort and bliss unique to women was described by the thirteenth-century Persian poet Rumi: ‘Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labour will a way unfold, and the infant find that opening to be born.’