Good Health
Good health goes hand in hand with mental health. Knowledge about touch, intimacy and inclusivity is key to build healthy and sustainable relationships. Being among other humans and being touched by them is necessary for good health and survival. Oxytocin is a hormone produced when we touch. Just like endorphins or serotonin it’s a type of hormone in your body that promotes positive feelings.
Low oxytocin levels have been linked to symptoms of depression. Oxytocin has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety levels. It helps with relaxation trust and overall psychological stability.
Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/oxytocin-the-love-hormone
Gender Equality
A part of my artistic work is to portray individuals of different genders. They confidently pose naked in their vulnerability. This creatively contributes to the sensibilisation of gender equality.
Blindfolds are used as a tool in touch-based workshops to make gender less noticeable. This creates greater openness among the participants with less gender-based prejudices.
Lilac expresses gender as a combination of female and male energy because it is a mix of the traditional girl and boy colours. It is associated with the fluidity of non-binarity and with sexual and gender diversity. I am aware of our binary thinking and I am interested in the space where it converges, where it becomes complex. I use the colour lilac as a playful phenomenon of the boundary: where it naively comes together, where it is fluid.
Every person is a beautiful mix of female and male energy.
Let’s explore!
Reduced Inequalities
Just as my artistic practice represents different genders as explained above, it also shows individuals of different ethnicities, ages, sexualities, shapes and sizes.
When touching a person with a blindfold during an exercise in touch-based workshops, you does not know which person is in front of you. As a result you may feel comfortable and joyous with a person you would normally not approach.
Bye bye prejudices!
Peace and Justice
More tolerance for each other = more peace = more justice
Through touch we learn and feel that we are all human. That we all need love and support. The first step is to love yourself, and to take care of yourself. When you do this, care and love for others automatically follows. In touch-based practices you develop a big sense of oneness that encourages you to make choices in favour of humanity.