Refinery29
The Artist Whose Canvas Is Her Own Body
Artist Tash Kouri's first encounter with body painting took place at a Dresden Dolls concert. Inspired by the mixture of art and punk rock, Kouri took that experience and fueled her future transformations, utilizing body painting and performance art as a cathartic way to express emotions and vulnerabilities.
"Sometimes it's hard to directly communicate your human experience to someone," Kouri says, "and if you can channel that through some other medium, deliver it to another person, it's a great way to connect."
Kouri used her 29Rooms residency to give visitors the opportunity to connect in this body-centric way, hoping the resulting out-of-body experience allows them to perceive new realities. "Whenever I paint myself it reveals a completely different side of myself I didn't see before," Kouri says. And it shows — in this video, Kouri's paint turns her into a being from another world. Watch her mesmerizing transformation.
