Scotland-based artist Jessica Harrison has recently created a sculpture series of tattoeed porcelain figures. At first glance, these ornate figures resemble the porcelain works that could be found on display in an old lady’s household. Upon closer look, it is revealed that these porcelain ladies have painted tattoos on their backs. Each sculpture is covered in sailor tattoes from neck to wrist. The tattoos are striking and subvert the viewer’s expectations of the idealized, conservative lady. The juxtaposition of the tattoos against the grace and poiseness of the porcelain doll effectively challenges the notions of the stereotypical feminine woman. Such juxtapositions that challenge societal norms and perspectives is a common trend in Harrison’s artwork. 

Harrison explains in her artist statement that she aims to showcase “a multi-directional and pervasive model of skin as a space in which body and world mingle.” She re-imagines the body in sculpture through skin, “offering an alternative way of thinking about the body beyond a binary tradition of inside and outside.” Harrison recently received a practice-led PhD funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in the UK where she reserched the relationship between interior and exterior spaces of the body. 

Learn more about Jessica Harrison and her works here 

Images via thisiscolossal