Skin (Folio Edition)

Skin is artist Goshi Uhira’s first collection of works. In its pages, the fine complexion and texture of his subjects are captured through careful scaling of black and white tones. He uses paper that is soft and seemingly moist, that when one scrutinizes the images closely, it is not the printing-specific halftone dots but cell-like particles that preside. The fiber of the paper and the sheen on it elicit a skin-like illusion. Skin is one of Uhira’s attempts to come to terms with himself and to question his origin and existence. As if to embody this, some of the images, including the one used on the cover, are of his own skin. For Uhira, the body is an unknown territory like that of a sacred shrine, and something to be acknowledged with reverence for being part of nature. To know oneself is to also comprehend the existence of much larger beings. In this process, Uhira views the skin of the others as an extension of his own self and pursues what is hidden in the depth of mankind, or of the world. The book also includes an essay, “An Intrinsic Kosmos,” by Tomohiro Akiyama. This artist book Skin (Folio Edition) was produced through the process of disassembling and reconstructing the artist book Skin published in 2018.

Pages: 16 images, 2 essays
Dimensions: 202 × 310 mm / 7.9 × 12.2”
Binding: Sleeve Case
Language: English, Japanese
Year: 2019
Publisher: Goshi Uhira
Origin: Japan