HEALING

A research for bandages in all different skin tones. Up to 2021 ‘skin tone’ or ‘flesh tone’ often meant shades of pink/beige, in clothing, make-up and oil paint. But ‘skin tone’ is all colors, from black and brown to white. It resulted in a series of artworks made with all shades of skin tone bandaids from all over the world, 2019-2022.

HEALING USA

On August 24, 2020, after countless Black Lives Matter protests worldwide, 29-year-old Jacob Blake got shot in the back 7 times by the police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He survived but is in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Trump has caused the United States to be less and less 'united'. Alt-right, white supremacy, racism, anti-black police violence, the killing of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Daunty Wright, and many more, armed militias, storming of the US Capitol... Joe Biden and Kamala Harris became president and vice president. Will the Stars and Stripes ever be a symbol of unity again? Joe Biden promised to usher in ‘A Time To Heal’.

More than 600 bandaids and 5 meters of kinesiology tape on canvas, 49 x 22" (125 x 65 cm), 2020

Healing USA II, 260 bandaids, 20 x 12 inches (50 x 30 cm), 2020

HEALING HISTORY, HEALING AMSTERDAM

A symbol for Amsterdam's apology for its slave history, officially announced on July 1, 2021, on Keti Koti, the day of remembrance and celebration of the abolition of slavery in the Dutch colonies Surinam and the Antilles in 1863/1873.

More than 1800 skin tone bandaids from different brands from the USA, UK and the Netherlands, 39 x 59" (100 x 150 cm), 2021

Healing History, Healing Amsterdam, study
65 skin tone bandaids, 7 x 9.5" (18 x 24 cm), 2021

HEALING UK

On September 17, 2021, teacher Sabina Nessa was brutally attacked and killed close to her home in London. This happened only a few months after the death of Sarah Everard in March. Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens falsely arrested Sarah under the pretence of having breached COVID-19 regulations and drove her to near Dover where he raped and strangled her, burned her body and dumped her in a nearby pond. The case sparked widespread debate about the safety of women and girls in the UK.

105 bandages on canvas, 9.5 x 7" (24 x 18 cm), 2021

HEALING LGBTQIA+

200+ skintone bandages by various inclusive brands from the US, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands, on linen, 20 x 12” (50 x 30 cm). @bandaid @healincolour @browndages @hansaplast.nl @ukskindeep and Ebon-Aide.

Visitor vreer taking pictures. Exhibition Made in Dolland, curated by artist and activist Dolly Bellefleur, on view in 2022. Drag queen and human rights activist Dolly Bellefleur is famous for her huge white wigs and her more than stunning legs.

PRIDE LEGS, 2022. 6 Pretty Polly(Dolly) skintone tights in 6 shades, on linen, 20 x 12” (50 x 30 cm).

UNITED LEGS OF DOLLAND, 68 legs, from pink to brown, 8 x 8 x 8” (20 x 20 x 20 cm) 2022

Special edition art book by our art collective. ‘A flat exhibition’, 168 pages, 25 artists, book launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020

HUMAN CAMOUFLAGE, digital art, 2020

HEALING

I started this painting in the first week of May 2020, only 14 days before George Floyd was killed. And now we need more healing than ever. Hopefully the Black Lives Matter movement will result in less anti-black police violence and new policy to end racism.

Oil on raw linen, 24 x 27” (60 x 70cm), 2020

My quest for black and brown skin tone bandages started in 2019, looking for Ebon-Aide. A New York entrepreneur, Michael Panayiotis created Ebon-Aide in 1998. The orange box read: "The bandage exclusively designed for people of color," and they came in shades called black licorice, coffee brown, cinnamon, and honey beige. It wasn’t a succes because Walmart and Rite Aid placed the boxes in the wrong shelves. So ‘flesh color’ still means soft-pink/beige. In 2021, after more than 100 (!!) years after the 'flesh colored', 'invisible', 'match your skin' band-aids were invented by Johnson & Johnson, they launched Band-Aids in three shades of brown to "embrace the beauty of diverse skin". It’s about f***ing time.