When an artist is painting skin tones, it may seem that the shade is fairly easy to achieve, but there’s an unbelievable amount of odd colors that go into achieving a specific skin tone, and astonishingly, every one of those skin tones has its own spectrum of diverse colors which contribute to its richness. I come from a country, a culture, a family, who not only frown upon the idea of celebrating our imperfectly-perfect selves but are frankly, lost. We try so hard to be flawless, hiding scars, brushing away the splatters of paint from our clothes, that we forget what expressing ourselves even means.
Perhaps what I’m trying to say is that we’ve been disregarding those odd colors that contribute to who we are because they aren’t always the prettiest, just like the scars we feel we must conceal from the world. I like to believe that those scars are just tattoos that add up as I grow just as the various pigments blend into skin. To me this is true art, a map of intricate imperfections that align to create a masterpiece; a palette of contrasting colors that blend to resemble your skin and represent your culture.
I have always aspired to open people’s eyes through my art, to show them the truth, and to help them to discover what beauty is. I have always wanted to make a difference in the world, to create a connection in humanity, to somehow unite every one of us. The change I aspire to bring is to simply open the eyes of my significant species, widen their minds and most importantly, open their hearts.
picture credit: https://medium.com/literally-literary/scars-beautiful-scars-918de733f9a5
