As I finished all my visual studies, I began to do some research into the largest organ of our body; skin.
It’s often the most neglected organ yet it is a slipstream into our endocrine system and gut, which are very important for function. Our skin absorbs 80% of what we put on it; so if you wouldn’t eat it, why would you put it on your skin?
Symptom Definition:
a physical or mental feature which is regarded as indicating a condition of disease, particularly such a feature that is apparent to the patient.
Since disease is essentially a result of a malfunction, technically a symptom is an indictor of malfunction.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (March 1, 2013) —Dermatologists find that the skin offers a window to what is going on inside the body, and changes to the skin may signal a more serious health problem. The key is knowing how to spot these early warning signs so the internal disease can be successfully treated and before it becomes a bigger problem.
While skin symptoms of any kind may be annoying and sometimes embarrassing, they are some of the greatest clues we have in finding out what is going wrong in our body.
Skin symptoms come in a variety of shapes and forms, which is why I put together some research on common skin disorders and different textures.
I used this research in helping me evolve my art form by exploring how the skin presents symptoms through a variety of shape, form, colour and texture.
I wanted to see what a lot of these conditions had in common to see how this could influence my textile investigation.
I looked at where the skin conditions were mainly found to see if that could influence what kind of textile shape or design to make, however, there wasn’t necessarily a clear result. Some were very specific, yet others could appear anywhere on the body. The face was probably the most common amongst them all, but that could be included as anywhere on the body and I’m not sure if a balaclava bedazzled in skin textures is that investigative or as conceptual as I would like my work to be.
Regarding the colour and texture, red and inflamed was a main one and I think people also associate with red as a warning, so it’s very possible that that will make an appearance in my final design.
In some way shape or form, patches were very common, as the conditions really don’t just appear as one cluster or cover the entire body, they’re more dotted around here and there. I could try and use this idea in my designs later on.
After my research, I gathered some primary visuals of different conditions and textures. I only photographed what I had access to, which actually is first had research into seeing what is most common around us.
Some examples:
- Wrinkles
- Acne
- Rosacea
- Dry skin/Eczema
- Moles
- Veins – more specifically spider veins
- Keratosis Pilaris
- Scars
- Wounds (healing)
I did further exploration in seeing how I could create these skin textures by looking at a variety of artists and the materials they manipulate to create an interesting surface.
I want to explore with other materials and not just rely on fabric, because not every skin texture is the same shape, texture and colour. It will encourage me to be more experimental and create surfaces I never would have made, if I hadn’t ventured out of the textile box.
Viktoria Collins UAL FMP 