reflections

skin

I grow with your body, change with your body, I’m its outside, its soft outer hide.

Sensitive to touch, sun, snow, wind, scars and caresses – once wounded I heal back.

Delicate and smooth, supple yet tough, invisibly I recreate myself by fractions every day.

Admired for my softness and transparency, I’m washed and cleansed, oiled, creamed and balmed,shaved, scarred, tattooed, tanned and made-up - to enhance my beauty, hide my folds, my fall and my decay. I’m slashed, stretched and stitched, transferred and grafted - to cover blemishes and burns,smooth out wrinkles,lift, enlarge or diminish body parts, with which I once have grown, to create a permanent smile, a body beautiful, a virtual eternity.

Skinned

Cut from the body, my inside, I’m shaved, cleaned and tanned to become a durable hide.

Washed and soaked, squeezed and stretched, I’m sensitive and supple until I’ve dried.

Treat me with respect - no metal tools, they scar, rip and tear – only hands and implements of wood and horn, once alive as I, to caress and knead my skin, to craft and sculpt. To give me character you put your body into me, forcing me back into each fold and groove - you once wanted to smooth away. Dyed and lacquered I retain my shape and age forever. Now I cover you again - feet, hands, face and head. As mask I change you as you once changed me - shaping you to give life to me; as torso I expose your naked state, and as an abstract I hide beauty in eternity.