In the second half of my art journal The Book of Skin (volume 2), I follow a comment made by Apurva Kulkarni inviting me to envisage my skin as a “she”, as an external entity. I draw outlines of a personification of skin, which quickly takes the form of a “skin goddess”. This is a pivotal moment in The Skin Project, and it is also an important step in the healing process. I write: “I feel compelled to continue with the story, while knowing that the skin goddess has opened up a space”.
Of all the drawings I produce in order to represent the personification of skin, the skin as “she”, the following stands out.
It visually echoes primitive forms of representation of deities and spirits (see petroglyphs) and I feel compelled to explore it further, to replicate its image, similar to the way images of religious figures find their way in everyday life and are represented indefinitely without losing their sacred essence.
I get this image carved onto a lino block and experiment with printing on different backgrounds and types of paper. The process is new, playful and exciting; it is liberating and full of possibilities.
concertina for a goddess
In opposition to the art journal The Book of Skin, with the printing of the goddess, language becomes silent. I cut the prints to create collages mixed with drawings and I join the pages in a concertina book. It has no cover, no beginning and no end; I leave the possibility open to add pages later. These images without language look like mythological elements, a mythology not yet narrated. It’s important, I feel, that this Concertina for a Goddess remains free of words.
dresses for olop
(2022) I start a series of lino prints on original artworks that I name Dresses for Olop. The name Olop comes from Our Lady of Psoriasis, another name I give to the Skin Goddess and which I coined while working on this particular series.
THE SKIN PROJECT 