Skin flakes, 2022.
Silver, keum boo, gold foil, brass.
5 cm x 6 cm x 4.2 cm

This work was an attempt to pacify my negative feelings on psoriasis, a skin condition, by utilizing precious metals and keum boo. This piece was created with a historical surface technique known as chasing and repoussé. It involves annealing the metal and then using specialized tools to hammer relief-like forms. The process includes alternating hammering on the front and the back until the desired outcome. I chose to recreate my lips out of precious metal and then add keum boo, a gilded gold effect, to represent the patchy, flaky psoriasis scales. After chasing and repoussé, I intentionally created cracks in the metal to visualize inadequacy and the frustration of body dysmorphia, then stitched brass wire through the silver. This piece is notably not meant to be wearable, likely because I still harbor resentment towards my psoriasis, and I do not want to venerate it as jewelry. Instead, I included elements of sewing thread in hopes of finally healing from a battered self-esteem. This work is part of my series on body dysmorphia, as I severely struggle with how my perceived flaws impact my selfesteem.