In Light of The Body

          The paintings and photographs in this art gallery were by Gwen Hardie and Regina DeLuise. Although these two artists were featured in the same gallery, the did not initially collaborate to make their art similar. I think this aspect of the gallery was pretty cool how they created similar work, found each other, and then ended up in an art gallery together. I believe that the back and forth between photographs and skin tones makes for an interesting combination. Both the photos and paintings of skin seemed to evoke some sort of emotion from everyone in the room, even those who believed that the skin looked like planets.
          The circles of skin tones were placed all around the room and each had a different color scheme. This smooth gradient-like oil painting was an interesting representation of skin. Usually, individuals may think of skin as textured, and may include lines or hair. If this was included in Hardie's depiction of the skin it would give the paintings a completely different meaning. Her paintings evoke warm, familiar feelings, due to the smooth gradient, but if these other features were included, like Hardie mentioned, it could lead people view these images in a sexual way. In my opinion, the close proximity in the photographs with the gentle facial expressions paired with the calmness and familiarity of the skin compliment each other well.

          Overall, this gallery depicts the diversity in the world with the skin tones ranging from light to dark around the room. In addition to this, many cultures are included in the photographs. The picture above shows how smoothly the colors are blended together. I really like how you can still see some smaller spots in the painting because skin is not 100% perfect nor only one color. Below, I put a couple of my favorite pictures from the gallery. I think that these pictures tell a story to whoever is looking at it and they are intriguing because everyone's way of looking at them could be different due to their individual experiences. Watching Hardie talk about her skin paintings and how passionate she was made me appreciate the work more than I initially did walking into the gallery.