Skin

"Seen, but not understood."

The Artist

Close-up of the surface of a dark brown beverage with bubbles, likely a beer.

The Matriarch

Close-up of a foamy, bubbly dark brown liquid, likely beer.

The Burdened One

Close-up of a surface with orange and yellowish bubbles or foam scattered across it.

The Spark

Close-up of a bubbly, fizzy surface with a gradient from pinkish to golden in color.

The Watcher

Close-up of a pink surface with numerous bubbles of varying sizes.

Skin examines how the body is perceived, and what is often overlooked. It explores how appearance, cultural assumptions, and systemic bias shape the way care is given, and withheld.

Each tone in the series is named to reflect generational progression, five figures across shifting thresholds of visibility, care, and credibility.

Illness doesn’t discriminate, but does society?

  • Skin opens the Feet to Foundation prelude with five symbolic portraits, each rendered with care, distance, and intention. They form a gradient, moving from the deepest tone to the lightest, not simply to represent complexion, but to reveal what is often left unsaid within families, and seen too quickly outside of them.

    The Artist and The Matriarch, positioned at the beginning, anchor the lineage. They speak to legacy, labor, and cultural grounding, figures who shaped what came after but remain partially obscured by time and unspoken stories.

    At the center is The Burdened One, caught between history and inheritance. He represents not only visible disability, but the unseen strain passed down: expectations, broken systems, and embodied fragility.

    The Spark and The Watcher, lighter in tone, but not untouched. Their complexion may suggest ease or privilege in some eyes, but Skin challenges that assumption.

    This work invites the viewer to slow down, to look again, and to question the ways we attach narrative to appearance. These works were created to hold tension between what we’ve been given and what we will become.

  • In Genesis, God formed humanity from the dust, every texture, every tone, shaped by His hands. But what was meant to reflect unity can often become the first point of division.

    Skin asks: when does what's at the surface end the care? When we filter our experiences through bias, how do we witness those made in God's image?

    Christ healed beyond appearances, He saw the invisible, touched the outcast, and restored dignity where systems failed.

    “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

    Reflection Question:

    Where in your life have you made assumptions based on someone's appearance, and how could God be inviting you to see differently?

  • Workshops: Portrait-based exercises on identity, family narratives, and perception.

    Therapeutic/Educational: Training on bias, inheritance, and cultural memory; relevant for addressing anxiety, family strain, intergenerational trauma, and internalized bias.

    Community Dialogue: Conversations on complexion, privilege, and unspoken family histories.

    Youth Engagement: Projects exploring self-portraiture, family roles, and intergenerational identity.

    Wellness Spaces: Reflection prompts and journaling on what we carry, what we inherit, and how we are seen.