In this self portrait I mark my face with the birthmark of a relative. It is an act of bearing—of memory, of difference, and of pain. By taking this mark onto my own body I perform a gesture of transference, almost like a living print, that blurs the boundaries between the personal and the familial, between my body and the body of another.

The title Family Imprint reflects this act, taking the trace of another onto myself, carrying a physical and emotional imprint as if it were my own. The gaze is always drawn to what deviates from the norm, yet at the same time resists staring directly. I am not disguising myself but borrowing the sign, making it visible.

Here the body becomes a surface of bearing, a living canvas where the memory of the other becomes presence. A mark born on another body is inscribed onto mine as an act of closeness and resonance, both homage and disruption. The work raises questions of identity, what counts as a body worthy of being seen, who is permitted to carry a mark on the face, and what does it mean for one’s own face to become the face of someone else.