Ariana Page Russell – working with skin

Artist Ariana Page Russell creates beautiful temporary artworks using her own skin, and skin condition, to her advantage.

Inevitable and Herringbone

From her website:

“A body is an index of passing time. Skin protects us as it shows shifting bones, bruising, muscles loosening and tightening, and freckles and wrinkles forming. I think of this as a transient fashion of skin, including the revealing way a blush decorates one’s cheek, freckles form constellations on an arm, or hair creates sheen on skin’s matte surface.

My skin is very sensitive and I blush easily. I have dermatographia, a condition in which one’s immune system releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the hypersensitive skin’s surface is lightly scratched. This allows me to painlessly draw on my skin with just enough time to photograph the results. Even though I can direct this ephemeral response by drawing on it, the reaction is involuntary, much like the uncontrollable nature of a blush.”

Patterns’ Faction

Flora

Ariana also works extensively with temporary tattoo paper, photography and collage – always focusing on the skin, and especially the idea of the blush – the temporary, involuntary symbol of vulnerability. So, so beautiful. Do go to her site and see more!

recent studio work

Pencil and sumi on watercolor paper, 17″x20″. This one is about the story of Rapunzel, the power and sexuality associated with hair, and the act of cutting: transition, renewal, and transformation.

Pencil and Sumi on watercolor paper, 17″x20″.

pencil, sumi and watercolor on watercolor paper, 17″x20″. These last two I meant to leave open to interpretation, but the responses I’ve gotten so far have been unintentionally sexual!

Charcoal, sumi, printmaking ink and thread on unprimed canvas… around 3.5′ x 4.5′. Freckles, stars, myth-making and interconnectedness.

Water-soluble pencil, sumi, and acrylic on unprimed canvas. About 3.5’x4.5′. Again with the stars, this time with fireflies, the briefness of their lifespans – you can see them dying and falling off at the bottom. With the stars dripping off of her body I was reminded of the only organisms on the planet who not only survive but actually thrive on hydrochloric acid, deep in caves, and output light…. so basically this piece is about glowing bugs and stars.

Water-soluble pencil, sumi and cut-out fabric flowers on unprimed canvas, about 4’x5′. This one I still feel is in a bit of a chrisis. I liked the figure drawing (except for the foot) before I started gluing the flowers on, and now it seems quite overdone, somehow. Maybe it’s the excessiveness of the pink, and maybe I’ve just spent too much time staring at it. Either way, I’m calling it done for now.

This one’s still in progress, there will be more flowers. Sumi and cut-out flowers on unprimed canvas, 4’x5′.

There’s only a month left before our senior show goes up – I’m so excited!