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Thursday, December 10, 2009

skin.

Transitioning from animal to human.

I fell for Ariana Page Russell's work this past weekend. I love the idea of skin as language and blushing as fashion. I am someone who wears my emotions on my skin. Unfortunately I can't disguise my intense anger during staff meetings. My rosacea causes my face to be a frustration meter. Ariana's work discusses her relationship with her body, emotional vulnerability and fashion. Aside from relevant, I find her works to be beautiful and elegant.
Skin series:


Dressing collection:

"...adorning myself with a longer lasting, intentional blush. Rather than being frustrated by my skin's transparency, I claim it by dressing up in the crimson hues that reveal my vulnerability."

Artist Statement:

A body is an index of passing time. Skin protects us as it shows shifting bones, bruising, muscles loosening and tightening, and freckles and wrinkles forming. I am interested in this as a transient fashion of skin, including the revealing way a blush decorates one’s cheek, freckles form constellations on an arm, or hair creates sheen on skin’s matte surface.
My skin is very sensitive and I blush easily. I have dermatographia, a condition in which one’s immune system releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the hypersensitive skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw on my skin with just enough time to photograph the results. Even though I can direct this ephemeral response by drawing on it, the reaction is involuntary, much like the uncontrollable nature of a blush.
I also make wallpaper and collage with photographs of my skin cut into decorative designs, then attached to the wall or onto board. Sometimes I use these collages to decorate my skin by scanning the patterns and turning them into temporary tattoos. Then I place the tattoos back on my body as an additional layer for the fashion of skin. The tattoos are red and pink shades of sensitivity so I can adorn myself with a longer lasting, intentional welt or blush. Rather than being frustrated by my skin’s transparency, I claim it by dressing up in the crimson hues that reveal my vulnerability. Some of the tattoos also go on the wall or window after they’ve made contact with my body, leaving traces of cells and hair, and holding a record of skin’s map.
I am investigating where one surface ends and another begins, the bloom of adornment, and how shifting exteriors reveal as they conceal.

8 comments:

drollgirl said...

ohmy GOD this is gorgeous stuff! love it! fucking brilliant.

and i don't have a poker face. that is for sure. but people have no idea how much restraint i am using to not outright explode, particularly in HORRENDOUS STAFF MEETINGS THAT GO ON FOR 4 HOURS. the worst.

Kitty Stampede said...

Wow...this is intense. Beautiful. I always like it if I'm sitting on my hands(which for some reason I do a lot, don't ask me why) I get the pattern of my pants or sweater on them. It's really cool looking.
I have transparent skin as well, thanks to my irish ancestors. I blush so easily at the drop of a hat.

hey listen, stay away from my squirrel lover cutey baby, he's all mine. ;)

Treacle said...

Wow...this is amazing. Thank you for posting it.

By the way, I hope this is all right...there's a lingerie giveaway contest happening at the blog and I'd be delighted if you enter! :-)

http://stockingsaddict.blogspot.com

seesaw designs said...

wow, it kind of hurts me to look at the top ones.

i totally wear my emotions on my face too.

-angela

Rackk and Ruin said...

wow. just wow. Love the freckle-connecting lines. and yes, the diary reached me safely, so sorry i never said thank you upon its arrival! xx molly

Rackk and Ruin said...

wow. just wow. Love the freckle-connecting lines. and yes, the diary reached me safely, so sorry i never said thank you upon its arrival! xx molly

Hello Lindello said...

intense, interesting, original, and beautiful. love it.

elle said...

This is breathtaking. Thank you for pointing it out.