Skóra (Skin/Leather)

Michalina Marta Cap

Mixed Media - Triptych of enlarged scans of stretchmarks anking acrylic work on folded paper

185 x 72 x 4 cm

Skóra, meaning both skin and leather in Polish, embodies my triptych's essence. Skin captures our life experiences, while leather symbolizes a man-made safety layer. This project began when I fixated on stretchmarks in a photo, a occupation previously unknown to me. As a former life model, my body had been immortalized in art. Yet, a self-image crisis led me to create art instinctively. Folding paper until it felt like leather, I saw the lines as marks of experience, the same way I see wrinkles. Taking intentional snapshots is my flaws marked a turning point—my body became my own artistic material. The photos blended natural and articial, small paper eventually enlarged. The project represents the cyclical nature of breathing and body changes, akin to women's ever evolving bodies. On a deeper level, it's about our sense of self-contracting and expanding under societal pressures, and eventually expressing fully when safe. "Skóra" symbolizes struggle, survival, and pride in bearing our life’s marks.