Human Print is a speculative fashion and projection mapping installation that critiques the beauty industry's relentless marketing of consumer products designed to "correct" or "perfect" the female body. The project interrogates society’s imposed ideals that label natural features—such as stretch marks, acne scars, body hair, or wrinkles—as flaws, and offers a counter-narrative that honors these features as sites of power, memory, and individuality. Rather than erasing bodily textures, Human Print uses nanotechnology-inspired imaging and microscopic bio-design tools to render the skin in high detail, transforming so-called "imperfections" into vibrant, celebratory patterns. The project uses microphotography, including skin samples captured under polarized light and scanning microscopy techniques, to reveal the intricate topographies of real bodies. These images—gathered from collaborators Jess Adriana Rivera, Maxine Gonzalez, Bela Chauhan, and their close communities—were composited into generative skin landscapes, visually emphasizing pores, eczema patches, vitiligo, birthmarks, fine lines, ingrown hairs, and other biological expressions typically hidden or edited out. Central to the collection is the YOU Dress, a white canvas garment that was digitally rendered in 3D to align precisely with projection-mapped microscopic bio-designs. The projections shift and shimmer across the surface of the dress, mapping the contours of lived, human skin as luminous patterns—inviting viewers to reflect on the dissonance between bodily reality and commercialized perfection. By integrating projection mapping, 3D modeling, and biological surface scans, YOU Dress transforms the body into a dynamic canvas of acceptance and resistance. The broader Human Print collection included a leotard, wide-leg trousers, and a long coat dyed with bio-organic materials such as beetroot, onion skin, mycelium, and Lactarius indigo mushroom pigment. The textiles—canvas, chiffon, organza, and repurposed hair extensions—were further treated through sashiko and boro techniques, traditional Japanese mending arts that metaphorically and materially echo the process of embracing scars and healing. Ultimately, Human Print is a feminist reclamation of the skin as archive, interface, and terrain. It positions the body not as a problem to be corrected but as a living, breathing site of story, history, and care—pushing the boundaries of wearable tech, biomaterials, and inclusive design.

Exhibition Opening:
April 12th, 2023
Art | Sci Center at The California NanoSystems Institute, Los Angeles, CA