This piece is available for purchase please contact Zoe for pricing
demensions 48x12x8in (x2)
demensions 48x12x8in (x2)
Canvas | Acrylic | Latex | 2020
Fall 2020
Derma is part of the series Mortal that is still in process. Derma is meant to expose the complexities and power dynamics surrounding ones skin. One’s skin, like everything grotesque, is symbolic of age, individuality, and societal hierarchy. Inspired by her own experience, Zoe is interested in the inner struggle to accept her own skin and the changes that come with age. Being a Woman in a society that constantly marks women with scrutiny, Zoe created this piece to depict ideas that surround the male gaze on women. By literally placing skin on the wall she emphasizes the idea that mortals, at their simplest form, are just skin and flesh. Skin and flesh that evolves as time goes on and serves as a testament to ones stage in life.
Zoe’s Derma piece also comments on the ideas that surround outward individual expression. With her piece Derma, Zoe is interested in the inner light that is shown on one’s skin; such as tattoos, scars, wrinkles, piercings, among other inner expressions expressed outward. Having scars, tattoos, and piercings of her own, Zoe bares them with ownership as marks to the stages in her life.
Derma is also meant to comment on the power dynamics that surround white flesh in society. Zoe purposefully places the skin on the wall in an unappealing manor to detest societal ideas that surround white skin. This piece is meant to be an acknowledgment that society places an unjust hierarchy based on skin tone. Yet society fails to acknowledge this hierarchy. Derma is meant to be a physical representation of the ugly truth that white skin holds unfair privilege in society.
***Zoe asks those who take offense to her critique on the white community to truly educate themselves on what white privalage really means in society. She has provided educational articles listed at the bottom of the page***
Zoe’s Derma piece also comments on the ideas that surround outward individual expression. With her piece Derma, Zoe is interested in the inner light that is shown on one’s skin; such as tattoos, scars, wrinkles, piercings, among other inner expressions expressed outward. Having scars, tattoos, and piercings of her own, Zoe bares them with ownership as marks to the stages in her life.
Derma is also meant to comment on the power dynamics that surround white flesh in society. Zoe purposefully places the skin on the wall in an unappealing manor to detest societal ideas that surround white skin. This piece is meant to be an acknowledgment that society places an unjust hierarchy based on skin tone. Yet society fails to acknowledge this hierarchy. Derma is meant to be a physical representation of the ugly truth that white skin holds unfair privilege in society.
***Zoe asks those who take offense to her critique on the white community to truly educate themselves on what white privalage really means in society. She has provided educational articles listed at the bottom of the page***
Resources mentioned above:
Benjamin DeMott's "Put on a Happy Face: Masking the differences Between Blacks and Whites"
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/readings/happy.html
Allan Johnson's “What Is a 'System of Privilege'?”
http://www.agjohnson.us/glad/what-is-a-system-of-privilege/
Calvin Halliman's “Black Women at Arms: The Underrepresentation of Black Servicewomen in the US History Curriculum.”
www.jstor.org/stable/10.5323/blachistbull.80.2.0021
Benjamin DeMott's "Put on a Happy Face: Masking the differences Between Blacks and Whites"
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/readings/happy.html
Allan Johnson's “What Is a 'System of Privilege'?”
http://www.agjohnson.us/glad/what-is-a-system-of-privilege/
Calvin Halliman's “Black Women at Arms: The Underrepresentation of Black Servicewomen in the US History Curriculum.”
www.jstor.org/stable/10.5323/blachistbull.80.2.0021