When I was younger, I had to have my tonsils removed for a second time because they regrew. The doctor explained this was a possible side effect of the surgery caused by not entirely removing the tissue, leaving enough behind to replicate and regrow. Since then, I have been interested in the body’s capacity for regeneration, adaptation, and mutation, like a lizard’s ability to regrow its tail. 

Some species of lizards possess the ability for caudal autonomy, a defence mechanism that allows them to voluntarily detach their tails. At the site of injury a bastema forms from cells that reorganize and reproduce a new tail. Unlike the original, which contains vertebrae, the regenerated tail develops around cartilage. While the regenerated tail resembles the original, it is not an identical reconstruction, but rather a new version produced from the biological information that remains.

My current series, Lizard Person, explores the hybridization of human and nonhuman bodies. Inspired by conspiracy theories surrounding so-called “lizard people,” which imagine nonhuman creatures wearing human skin as a disguise, Second Skin asks: what if I could shed my skin like a lizard? In 3D modeling, a UV map flattens a three-dimensional surface into a two-dimensional coordinate system so that textures can be applied to the surface. I use this process of digital unwrapping as a parallel to biological shedding, merging the logic of UV mapping with the process of ecdysis, in which reptiles shed their skin.

The work begins with a digital model of my body that is UV unwrapped using cube projection, producing a flattened arrangement of UV islands based on orthographic views of the body. Rather than using the UV map as a digital texture, the map is printed to create a textured image that is used to cast silicone to create a skin-like membrane. Second Skin considers the body through digital environments, where the physical body can be separated from its physical form and reconstructed through data.

October. 01 - 11, 2026

ART/SPACE 114 | Los Angeles, CA

Curation and Documentation: kivestudio