Skins

You, Me, the weight of history

Here, two sculptural jackets hang as markers of identity and history. They are not fabric, but are assembled from cast-off paint—the very 'skin' of an artist's process. The work investigates the complex intersection of race and culture in contemporary life, contrasting powerful graphic signifiers.

One jacket wears the organic, connected lineage of Māori kōwhaiwhai; the other, the stark, rational uniformity of Western industrial stripes. These patterns are the symbols we choose or are assigned, forming the 'skins' we present to the world. Crucially, the jackets themselves are identical in form, and both are lined with a deep red pigment representing blood. This common interiority challenges the divisions we create based on external differences, suggesting that while our outward displays differ, our core existence is the same.

The work acts as a visual pun on 'skin,' a term used for both paint residue and the very human surface that contains our shared life force.