Golden scars

'If bodies tell stories, scars are their words’-Hélène Gugenheim

Going through life we come across great things as well as less great things. We play carefree as a child and party hard as teenagers. We get sick and feel better. Basically we fall and get up again. Some of these experiences translate into scars on our bodies. The former art-history student Hélène sees those scars as a combination of strength and sensitiveness. With her project ‘Mes cicatrices Je suis d’elles, entièrement tissé.’, she wants to show these beautiful combinations that we call ‘scars’.

What is it?

‘Mes cicatrices Je suis d’elles, entièrement tissé.’, can be translated as ‘My scars, of them I am fully woven’. The thought behind this is that you live your whole life in a layer of skin that you can’t take of. It goes through many adventures and its scars show the most special ones. When your skin gets damaged it heals, but it will never be the same again. Then why not celebrate it as something new?

In Japan they have this old method called ‘Kintsugi’ to repair broken pottery. A mixture of gold and polish is used to glue the different pieces back together. This way the piece of pottery is useful again, but you can still see the fracture. It is celebrated with thin lines of gold.

Hélène learned about this technique when she was working for a French magazine that covers the history of different handicrafts. When she met a woman Marie, who had her breast removed due to cancer, she immediately knew she wanted to do something. With the method ‘Kintsugi’ in the back of her mind Hélène developed a special technique to put gold leaf on naked human bodies.

With every client she goes through the same process. Firstly, the client gets naked and their scars get covered in thin layers of gold leaf. Then Hélène and the client go into a studio-room. Here the client gets to express itself by crying, singing, sleeping, or any other activity. Everything that takes place in the studio is recorded on video. At the end of this special day the client gets to take home the gold leaf in a small bottle. This serves as a reminder of how precious their scar really is.

Why is it cool?

Painting your scars gold to make them the centre of attention, it is the ultimate example of ‘flawsome’. When you start seeing your flaws as something that actually makes you awesome, you will be able to love the skin that you are in. Even brands are joining the flawsome-wagon. They show off costumer-reviews at the main page of their website, the good and the bad ones. You can also see this movement when it comes to famous persons. Bill Clinton had to resign as president because of his affaire with Monika Lewinsky. Nevertheless, that mistake made him one of the most popular presidents of the United States. He is remembered for his flaws.

Also, ‘Golden scars’ seems to not care about today’s beauty ideal. It even goes against the perfect image. I think this is what we need in a world where every picture is manipulated and the truth is hidden behind layers of Photoshop. We need people to stand up and show the raw truth. By tattooing over scars or covering them in gold, they will stand out. This way we can celebrate our flaws instead of having to hide this part of us!

What sources did I use?

-http://helenegugenheim.com (afbeelding 1 en 2)

-http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/08/this-artist-weaves-gold-into-the-scars-of-others-to-tell-a-beautiful-story-5610501/

-https://www.facebook.com/The-SCAR-Project-255064983743/info/?tab=page_info

-http://blog.tattoodo.com/2015/04/tattoos-scars-reclaiming-body/ (afbeelding 3)

http://trendwatching.com/nl/trends/flawsome/

Always wonder,

Simone

#ShiftingIdentities