Skins

(2022 - Showcase version)

Skins is a stop-motion animated short film for my final year at Central Michigan University. The project addresses ideas of gender identity, mental health, and the abject. The animation utilizes the rotoscoping technique on found objects and recycled materials.

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The film was showcased as an installation in tandem with the animated elements at the Central Michigan University 2022 BFA Capstone Exhibition "Human Nature." The animation repeated 4 times accompanied by the nearly 9-minute song by the same name.

At the Central Michigan University 2022 Juried Animation Showcase, "Skins" won 1st place in both the Senior Thesis Project and Juror's Award categories.

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As a neurodivergent and queer person I have found myself identifying with the abject, a concept used to describe something that threatens our sense of cleanliness, relating to the human body and its functions.

By balancing visual depictions of the human body that people may find disgusting or uncomfortable with my own perception of my body and mind, I've provided the viewer an opportunity to consider the "unsightly" in an artistic light.

We the queers, the perverts, and the abject, aren’t going anywhere. I will proudly share what is disgusting, demoralizing, and demonized in people's eyes, until the world can recognize our incredible beauty.

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View on YouTube

Music: Skins (Installation Music) by Waugoshance Spotify