Another skin

I have always liked to think that every feeling, thought or emotion can be represented by a specific colour depending on each person.

In our society, the face in particular is where feelings, thoughts, emotions may be expressed more evidently. At the same time, the face has an important role when we talk about identity.

In this regard, everybody may be aware that persona originally means ‘mask’. In fact, persona was the Latin name of the wooden mask that the actors wore during shows. Its features were intentionally exaggerated, so that they could be seen by the entire audience. Its origin – personar – conveys something that echoes through: the mask is extremely ambiguous, since in the moment that it reveals an aspect, it also disguises another one.

In our everyday life we always wear masks. Clothes, make up, behaviours, etc. may belong to the sphere of presenting and representing ourselves, multiplying our identities.
Similarly, let us think about the skin. It is the only organ that covers the totality of the body. However, it is not only a surface, but also a psychic envelope that has its own life, a boundary that faces both outside world and the inner world. Through the skin a part of a story of a person can be told.

So, what happens if our own skin becomes itself a mask? Using the painting as an unusual disguise, the participants of the project (produced in 2017) multiplied their faces and decided which personality to wear, performing and echoing a state of being through their transformed skin. In so doing they perceived their own face differently, posing without the photographer’s direction and writing something personal about their experience.

E: “‘To become black’ happens when all my perceptions are not mine anymore, when all my thoughts are not mine anymore, when I feel myself as in tune with the whole world around me.

‘Being black’ neither means a loss of the identity at all, nor a loss of that identity that we are always aiming for, it means a loss of our own identity.”

C: “Where am I in this picture?”

S: “The more the paint dried out, the stronger the feeling of every movement of the face was. Cool! But I feel like I am deformed in this picture, especially because I never use hair gel and the painting had a weird effect on my hair.”

S: “It is difficult to stand in front of the camera. It is the difficulty of being conscious of yourself. Being, simply being. I remember that in that moment, with my face completely painted, I felt that I added something to myself, but also that I deprived myself of something else. This is because I felt that yellow belonged to me, as a warm friend.

I felt like an animal in the jungle and I wanted to convey the feeling of something that escapes, that you cannot catch. I have always wondered if my hand is female or male. I love it because it’s strong and delicate, and putting it in front of my face gives me a sense of wilderness.”

F: “When the picture was taken I felt like I was an aborigine, an inhabitant of a wild place on Earth, who suddenly awakens in the middle of nowhere, feeling scared and amazed about the surrounding world.”

M: “A new beginning.”

M: “When this photo was taken, three things were going on in my head. The first one was ‘Man I love this color, wish I could be this color all the time’. The second one was ‘This will take a while to get out of my hair’. The third: ‘My mom will not like the faces I am pulling’.”

M: “A new beginning.”

M: “We can put on a new skin for every occasion, but no matter what colour we paint our skin, we remain the same”

G: “How many times has your skin become a boundary for your soul? How many times have your eyes looked for something, but your body denied the change?”