Skin

Skin explores the effects of plastic surgery on self-esteem. Growing up with a birth defect took a toll on my body, my mental health, and most importantly my confidence. I didn’t fit into society’s standards of “normal” and therefore had undergone numerous plastic surgery procedures, which in the end caused me to have a low self-esteem. As I grew up and as the procedures came to an end, I finally began to gain confidence in my appearance and accept that society’s standards of “normal” are unattainable.

Skin presents this newfound confidence through graphic design and photography. In my graphic design work, I created a magazine with fabricated advertisements, copy, and images illustrating my story and sharing what I have been through. In my photographs, I took self-portraits celebrating my confidence and how I overcame my birth defect. The photographs are black and white, on a plain background, with a clear visibility of the scars on my body. In the magazine and portraits, you get a glimpse into what I dealt with for 21 years of my life and how I won’t let this birth defect define me.

With this work, I hope to show anyone who struggles with parts of themselves that aren’t “normal” that you are beautiful the way you are, and you don’t need to be fixed. Confidence is something everyone struggles with, but through this exhibition I hope to show that no matter what you have struggled with about yourself, there is a way to find confidence and overcome your hurdles. Society’s standards of “normal” are unattainable and quite frankly shouldn’t be something to strive for. Everyone is beautiful as they are, and confidence is found within yourself and not from everyone else’s opinion.