nagelhaut (masks)

2025, artificial fingernails, glitter stones
225 x 155 x 100 mm
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nagelhaut (masks) consists of three masks composed of hundreds of artificial fingernails. The nails are layered into a rigid, scale-like surface. Glitter stones occupy the position of the eyes. The eyes shimmer, but they do not open a gaze.
The surface is built through repetition. Each nail is applied individually, accumulating into a dense skin, transforming into an armor. The process carries time, pressure, and endurance. Adornment appears not as ornament, but as aggression.
The title nagelhaut refers to the cuticle, a thin protective layer of skin. It is a boundary that is continuously worked on, pushed back, trimmed, regulated, especially when wearing artificial nails. This tension is inscribed in the masks. Their surface can be read as protection and as regulation at the same time.
The masks harden, remain closed - they do not speak. 


Exhibition views 2025 MMCA Residency Goyang Open Studio 21. MMCA Residency Goyang
Photos: Hong Cheolki, Courtesy of National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea