Body Illusion

In 2017 I put an advertisement on social media that I am looking for people willing to show me their scars and, if they feel open enough - tell me their stories.
Only women responded.
I aimed to show fractured skin as shiny and beautiful as possible, so I covered it with eyeshadow, which gave it a shimmering effect after turning off the lights.
What inspired me to start this project was my own body and the scars I have after two surgeries on my belly.
The idea about the aesthetic aspect of photos came from the thought that we are a part of the cosmos, just like the stars we see in the dark sky.

Women told me about broken spines, tumours, self-harm, stretch marks etc. One confessed that this project helped her realise that her skin issue is less dramatic than she previously perceived.

"Self-portrait" depicting torso, belly with scars, black and white photograph

Black and white photograph of a body with a scar after a spine surgery

black and white photograph of a skin with stretch marks after pregnancy

black and white photograph of a skin with scars from self-harm, a close-up of an arm of a woman

black and white photograph of a scar after surgery, a close-up of a torso of a woman

black and white photograph of a large scar on a woman's belly - after a tumor surgery, the scar goes around her navel.

black and white photograph of a scar on an elbow, a close-up on an arm

a black and white photograph of a scar with a tattoo of a fish head and tail, together they look like a fish remains, skeleton

First Annual "Fine Art" exhibition, Los Angeles Center of Photography, CA, USA, 2016 (photo courtesy LACP); Juror: Hamidah Glasgow - executive director and curator at Center For Fine Art Photography at Fort Collins, USA

Hanging on the right side is a photograph by Jennifer Lothrigel.

International exhibition at the InArte Werkkunst Gallery in Bergamo, Italy, 2017; Special guests were prof. Vittorio Sgarbi (an Italian art critic, art historian, writer, politician, and cultural commentator) and Denis Curti (curator, long-time director of photography, founder of STILL and an author of books on photography).

Photo courtesy of InArte Gallery; fragments from the NOWART Magazine published by the gallery.

The London Group Open 2017 entire catalogue is in PDF.

Prestigious international art exhibition "The London Group Open 2017" at the Cello Factory - organised by the United Kingdom's longest-running (since 1913) artists' collective - The London Group. Read more about its history here.

Susan Haire, the President of the Group at that time, wrote in the catalogue: "The Open has been the backbone of the London Group pretty much ever since, and today, we are proud that a worldwide reputation - this year we had submissions from 27 countries. "

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