Monochrome Bodypainting Project “Exoskeleton”: Brilliantly Textured Body Paintings Turn The Human Form Into A Walking Work Of Art

Artist Yusk Imai has a long-held fascination with human anatomy, and he displays this reverence for the body in an unconventional painting project called Exoskeleton. The skin is his canvas as hands, arms, legs, and shoulders are covered in intricate textures that mimic reptile scales, brushed metal, and feathers. Imai’s meticulous handling and solid black painting is reminiscent of the blackout-style tattoo trend we’ve recently admired. Unlike those tattoos, however, his work is created with acrylic ink and water-based markers, making its existence fleeting.

h/t: mymodernmet, hifructose

“It is very difficult for me to create a new identity if I can’t change the structure. Unlike my paintings, I cannot twist, create, invent, do whatever I like with the body. I still want to give it a new identity, to build something bigger. I have this idea of growing this project into something more produced – build a scenario, dress the volunteers the way I want to, take pictures with a special lighting and all that.”, says artis to HiFructose.

“An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects animal’s body, it’s a second skin. It protects animals such as cicadas, lobsters, armadillos and other insects. My idea is to create a second skin for a human body, a protection, another layer for the body.”