What if the most vulnerable parts of your story were painted on your skin?

“An artist’s job is sometimes not to be popular. An artist’s job sometimes is just to create conversation where conversation is needed.”

This can be a scary thought. We all navigate the sweet tension between wanting to be SEEN for who we are and wanting to hide certain aspects we feel uncomfortable showing.

While the latter might apply to arguably “minor” things like bad moods, particular quirks we are embarrassed about, or our perceived weaknesses, it especially applies to more delicate parts of our story: Traumatic experiences we survived, physical illnesses or mental health issues we suffer from, violence and abuse we had to go through et cetera.

Shame and guilt can lure us into silence and isolation, which might not help our healing.

Kristen Zamora (Adams), a professional face and body painter from Paw Paw, Michigan (USA), breaks the silence and does the radical opposite: Painting people’s vulnerable stories in full scale on their naked bodies.

It had started with artistic intentions at Grand Rapids ArtPrize 2017. It has evolved into much more: a healing modality, a full-on passion for Kristen, and an invitation to look at her own hiding more closely…