The skin is the largest organ on the human body, the first line of defense against external factors that encloses and protects all functional structures of the body. At the same time, it is one of the five primary senses of perception and interaction with the environment. The skin represents the physical substance of the individual, forms his image and dictates the presence that is perceived by the social environment. With communication now ranked as one of the basic human needs, the importance of  the skin is intensified when it becomes a means of expressing an individual's inner world. All the works presented are contemporary ,human-centered depictions, placed in a blank environment symbolized by the black background, free from space, time and external factors while the light is concentrated exclusively on the human existence. The skin is transformed into a second canvas that narrates the human psyche.

    The role of  the portrait is to capture the uniqueness of the person they portray; it's the spiritual content that is important, not the physical characteristics of the person. Portrait does not necessarily imply facial features. In my paintings I consider the body as equally capable of forming a portrait and narrating its identity even with the complete absence of a face.

Katerina Christou