Touch

"The near-orgasmic caravan of pleasure, shiver, pain, and relief that we call a back scratch."

Back scratching, and any kind of scratching in general, is knownfor being highly satisfactory. Of course, bleeding back scratches areusually associated with the aftermath of sex, pleasure, but also

shown with intense, bleeding scratches, pain. There's a duality to the experience of back scratches since the back is not tough due to a lack of interactivity unlike the arms or legs where scratches don't have the same type of relief that the back provides. The digital painting shows bleeding scratches; the context of these scratches are left void and isolated for the viewer to either feel pain of the intensity of the cuts, or feel the pleasure of feeling something on sensitive skin that is not used to having a certain sensation.

"...breathing and excreting, shielding us from harmful rays and microbial attack metabolizing vitamin D, insulating us from heat and cold, repairing itself of touch, aiding us sexual attraction, defining our individuality..."

I personally think tongues are an underrated tool of touch. Most think of the tongue for taste, but there's a reason why chefs refer to something called "mouth feel." Tongues have an incredible way to feel in a sensitive manner; more so than hands sometimes. The red shows heat, as the tongue feels heat more than it does cold, but the tongue can sense that too. Tongues also play a role in sexual attraction, like french kissing, that relies on the sensitivity of the tongue to act as hands, having the same tension as fingertips slightly touching each other, just enough to tickle the skin. The feeling of another human being connects us, intertwines us, in a way that no other sense can; providing that tension of closeness, the ability to feel something mentally but not physically. This piece was meant to show this tension and the sensation of mentally touching is part of touching and feeling.