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The Natural Lens:
In many circumstances in life, there is more going on than at first glance. Something may not always be functional just because it appears to be.
“When you look at my eyes you can see they’ll focus but without my glasses, I can barely see.”
The Palm of Life:
Lines are not written into a person's hand without reason.
“I think you can tell a lot about a person by their hands. Whether they’re rough, or soft, the lines covering their palms. That’s why I learned how to palm read, to learn their past, present, and future.”
The Traces of Life
When was the last time you looked at the marks on your body? And what story do they tell? The Traces of Life project focuses on bringing a sense of beauty and awe to peoples scars, burns, and marks. But also focusing on the stories they tell. As humans, we are obsessed with how we look, and when we develop or receive these marks, we believe them to be negative, however, these marks are our stories. They are our lives, and with this project, I aim to bring these stories to life.
The Burnt Butterfly:
It is known to many that if you put water into hot oil you will create an explosion, but not to a twelve year old. So, when left alone an accident occurred. One small moment turned into a lifelong mark, and yet when seen we see beauty. A Butterfly.
“I can't remember what I was trying to help my mum make, but I remember adding water into a frying pan and then it spitting out and hitting me. Apparently, I screamed and my mum came back and saw me holding my arm and then she made me hold it under a cold tap. I only calmed down when she said it looked like a butterfly, and since then it's just been my burnt butterfly.”
The Marks of Life:
Motherhood. Bringing life into the world can be a total physical and mental transformation, and a woman's body can only take so much physical strain before it breaks. Consequently, never being the same.
“I love my son, but when I first gave birth to him, I hated how my body looked. I had him when I was young and seeing all those stretchmarks on myself, I felt ugly. But slowly, very slowly actually, I came to realize that each mark represents him. And I love him, so now I love them too.”
PCOS:
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman's ovaries produce an abnormal amount of male sex hormones confusing the body and resulting in hair growth.
“There's no cure for it so I just have to deal with it. I shave it off because no woman wants a hairy face”.
Five Times Too Many:
When you're passionate about something you put your all into it, even if it hurts.
“I used to play netball when I was little, and during tournaments I’d do my best and sometimes after it ended up hurting and swollen, so I ended up going to A&E and was told I had broken it. That happened five times. So now my fingers are dislocated, and I’ve been told not to play anymore. But I still do.”
Scarred for Life:
On the 13th of September 2005, a two and a half year old with a 2cm hole in the middle of their heart went into surgery, and eighteen and a half years later the only memory of that surgery is still visible.
“For me personally it has not been that much of a difference, it's all I've ever known. The scars have been a huge insecurity for me growing up, but I don’t remember anything from when it happened, not really anyway. I've had a recurring dream that I'm in the hospital cot with wires attached to me and someone snoring in the corner of the room, but I don’t remember it.”
Growing Pains:
Everyone goes through the process of growing up, but yet every experience is unique. Occasionally, our bodies may experience difficulty adjusting to abrupt changes, which can sometimes result in physical traces.
“When I hit puberty, I grew really quickly. I get it from my Nana. She is all legs, and I am now too. Growing paints hurt so much for me because I grew so quickly, and because of that, I got stretchmarks covering most of my legs, some are really dark too because they’re newer. I don’t really care now though; I've just accepted it's part of growing up, but they annoyed me at first.”
The Marks That Move:
"Although I can't recall when it began, I do know that my pigmentation began as a single, large mark in the center of my chest. It would occasionally disappear for a while, but until it began to move, it would always reappear in the same place. That is until it began to move slowly down my chest. It had also somehow divided into several smaller marks.
To this day I still do not know why it suddenly appeared, and why it moves. But it's a part of who I am. It’s like my body likes to surprise me every single time".