Keeley Smith, Student Work

Skin and It's Textures

Toilet paper and cotton ovals on mixed media paper 

9" x 12"

Many touch receptors combine to produce what we call a twinge. Consider all the varieties of pain, irritation, abrasion; all the textures of lick, pat, wipe, fondle, knead; all the prickling, bruising, tingling, brushing, scratching, banging, fumbling, kissing, nudging. Chalking your hands before you climb onto uneven parallel bars. A plunge into an icy farm pond on a summer day when the air temperature and body temperature are the same. The feel of a sweat bee delicately licking moist beads from your ankle.” - Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses, p. 80 

Statement:

The idea for this piece was inspired by the complex way our body’s receptors interpret sensations and the varying differences in them all. I used paper products to demonstrate the many textures, bumps, and scars skin has; how one part of the body not only feels texturally different from others but also experiences sensations different.