Savina Hopkins

My creative practice is predominately collage based, with a focus on using unconventional and salvaged materials. My current work continues my exploration of interpersonal dynamics and the workings of the psyche within the context of portraiture. I have used adhesive dressings on photographic studio portrait postcards dating from 1910 to 1930 for this series of work. A band-aid can imply both damage and healing, trauma and care. In my artwork I have used band-aids to entirely cover a person’s face. In doing so I engage with ideas relating to suffocation, concealment and identity, as well as personal injury and loss. I explore this psychological terrain via the process of identifying and manipulating the aesthetic qualities of band-aids; their various tones, textures, patterns and different degrees of transparency, and pairing them with the dissected portraits. Through this process I explore the idiosyncratic nature of identity and the malleability of the psyche. My creative process is informed by my interest in the interface between damage and healing and the complexities of interpersonal relationships forged within a social system in flux.