Hedwig Brouckaert works with mass media imagery to create introspective and tactile works, which range from drawings and sculptures to site-specific installations.”Peel" is a series of paper collage on ceramic and marble tiles, working with imagery of skin from mass media. Living in NYC, she is interested in the complex images created by dirt and grime on the white-tiled subway tunnels - repulsive and quite beautiful at the same time - as an image of the passing of time and the layered society that is the city. The tiles she uses are meant as the architectural skin of the spaces we inhabit or pass through, the lobbies and underground tunnels where millions of people pass through daily.
From mainstream magazines like Vogue, with its over-produced images of whiteness that mask the inequalities in our society, she cuts out models' skin and layers it over and over with glue and acrylic paint to create a bas relief on tiles.
The artist then sands, cuts, and carves with sharp tools to reveal the deeper layers beneath. The skins peel, uncovering strange patterns and melting boundaries.