At the end of my studies in the visual communication program at Östra Grevie, we were tasked with creating works around the theme “Obsession” to be shown at an exhibit at Galleri Redan, as well as to be published in a riso-printed zine. The title is taken from an overheard conversation between my classmates, where one of them was complimenting the other on having a naturally acne-free face and extolling the virtues of “clean skin”. As someone who often struggles with acne and has experienced vaguely hostile reactions from strangers based off the severity of a breakout, I started stretching this phrase that kept rattling around in my head (”It’s good to have clean skin”).
The first iteration of “Clean Skin, Violent People”, riso-print. This design was the result of subtracting, adding and overlaying experimental physical drawings with tracing paper in stages and then compiling everything together.
After finishing the first iteration and beginning work on this second iteration of this motif, I wanted to visually explore the idea of skin as any exterior surface separating two things from another. Oysters, pearls, pixels, clouds all were big visual inspirations.
Illustration. Colored pencil and ground dry pastels on Legion Stonehenge paper.