June Young Lee: The Torso Series

3rd Floor Gallery

Artist Statement: June Young Lee

Bodies record personal stories and suggest the ways that we remember. Skin, in particular, reflects who we are and tells stories that we might not always recognize. Memories, like scars on skin, are fragile. Some scars last longer than others while some heal but never disappear, helping us preserve a memory. We use tattoos to engrave memories under our skin and make them permanent. We change the form of our bodies by losing and gaining weight. Although memories deteriorate and denature with time, our skin never forgets.

Through these photographs, I want to visually present what skin can reveal to us. By removing the forms and shapes of the body, viewers are asked to consider both the unique and universal characteristics of skin. Digital technology enabled me to create this constructed and fictional imagery while still maintaining reality of body. This interplay between fiction and non-fiction provides us with objective, detached, and unfamiliar views. Observing the intimate and subtle details of each individual's history can help us to identify our own personal differences and understand others - and ourselves - better.