Karen Black Body shell

Body shell speaks to the myriad layers, which as women, we work to conceal in order to contend with the world around us. I see this layering as both psychological and physical. I myself have always had this external shell – my body shell – to protect my psychological self from the outside world. Living alone for the first time in my life, I have recently been compelled to peel back that outer layer and probe the substratum; the memories which have accumulated beneath. The numerous figures in Body shell are images of my various selves from across time which have emerged from this inward looking.

Karen Black, 2018