Extimacy

I was drawn to working with skin mostly because it serves as a link to the body and was once part of a living organism that moved and breathed yet is now fully detached, solidified and fixed. It also proved to be a fascinating surface to paint on as the skin mutates and wrinkles depending on the environmental space that it is in. I found it ironically cooperative as I was painting the body slices on this material that is skin. There’s something very eerie and intriguing about working with skin. I actually get it shipped to me frozen in a box from Texas where the animal is skinned, de-haired and washed in lime. It’s always a surprise to open the boxes – each hide is different and acts as an historical fact sheet which details where the animal has been and any other significant encounters that have left marks on its skin. Some are also labelled with numbers, which introduces a whole box of inquiries.

What I also find interesting is a sense of violence that the skin transmits because of this hidden narrative that precedes it. I feel that it relates to issues of colonialism and war and, to a certain degree, the psyche of a displaced person. As the skin is now marked and reduced to a number, it is static and confined to these very narrow parameters within a rectangular frame. It makes me wonder who this skin belonged to and why is it inanimate now?

Interview by Myrna Ayad HERE