Glimpses

I used to think my work wasn't pleasing enough – that it would never be chosen to go up on display in the foyer at school – and it often wasn't. And once, when we had a visitor to the school, it ended up in the darkest corner of the room – behind the art room door! (However, since figure drawing only ever involved fully-clothed models and any nudity – or semi-nudity – in our art works was frowned upon, I can only smile at the memory and appreciate that it was put up at all).

Well, there's no nudity here – just some glimpses of the kinds of things I found beautiful, startling, powerful and, I hoped, just a little bit defiant when I was growing up.

Skin

This collage came out of an argument I’d had with a friend. I’d been disappointed at how stereotypical her favourite female fantasy characters appeared. They looked to me, despite their weapons and armour, like yet more Disney princesses: all big boobs and big hair – and very tiny waists. Princess Fiona they won’t..!

I was also critical of just how much more sexualised these women characters were than the men – and that she couldn’t (or perhaps didn’t want to) see that. Of course it’s not just the poses and pouts, and sidelong looks – it’s how much skin they’re showing. Unnecessarily, since I am sure that it’s safer, despite their vast knowledge and powers, to armour their midriffs when wreaking havoc or whatnot...

But, I wondered, am I spoiling all the fun – and perhaps fighting a losing battle? Maybe I am... After all, women’s nude or semi-nude bodies are all over the internet, right? Or are they?

Well, I thought I’d take a look... I did a Google image search of ‘skin’ and found plenty of anatomical diagrams of the skin – and plenty of young, perfectly make-upped, clean and clear, fair and female faces. And almost as many images of diseased skin!

On the internet (as in life?), skin seems to be perfect or problematic – good or bad! Or perhaps even ‘celebrity’... But, on the internet, skin is overwhelmingly one type.

I really had to search to find photographs of wrinkled skin, men’s skin, babies’ and children’s skin, skin of different colours and shades, skin on other parts of our bodies than our faces, and of different textures. Looking at this collage again, I realised I still hadn’t included any freckles and moles – of which I have many myself!

‘So what?’ you might be thinking. Well, I’d like to think the internet can be a whole lot more diverse and dynamic than that. And that there’ll still be a place on the internet for art that shows some skin, and meaningful conversations and arguments about it, in years to come...

So, here is a synthesis of a whole lot of skin on the internet – I’ve pilfered from so many people’s photographs but (in some kind of apology!) each has been edited so much as to be pretty unidentifiable (other than those of the tattoos of course).

A celebration of the largest organ of the body: the skin

And my last word in the above mentioned argument:

Women can be super and sexy, but many women around the world are still fighting all kinds of sexism to be the best – and sexiest – selves they can be.


And on that, I think, we can agree.