Priyanka Jain

Priyanka Jain (Victoria, Australia)

The Forest on My Flesh # 2, 202

digital illustration

16.5 x 11.7 inches

The Forest on My Flesh refers to the forests of microbiome lining the skin and the internal organs of the human body. Research on the Brain-Gut axis states that microbes in the intestine send signals via the Vagus nerve to the brain, affecting our moods and behaviors. I extrapolate this research to include the microbiome of the skin, which is perhaps affected by weather phenomena such as raindrops and fog, and cascades affective changes. The agency of the microbes also makes me ponder—do I fall in love, or do the microbes, when they want to “establish relations with other microbiomes,” make me fall in love? The weather, the foods we eat, the surfaces we touch, and our environments are inextricably connected and yet unconnected for us until it hits our realization.