Arla Patch

SECOND SKIN: The Transformative Power of Body Casting Sculpture

Mask Making: the power of this process was discovered accidentally when a partner in a mask making workshop put one flat piece of gauze over my mouth, giving me no mouth. The meaning was discovered with the mask on my lap, rubbing charcoal around the eye openings when a well of sadness rose from my feet, into my gut and I sobbed from the realization that I had no voice as a child in a home loaded with abuse.

This process involves creating a casting directly from one's face. It is then decorated and completed in a manner that expresses what the individual most needs to see at that point in their lives.  It can be the release of aspects that no longer serve them or the validation of qualities they wish to embrace and embody. This  process has been offered to couples, teens at risk, male adolescents recovering from drug and alcohol addiction, parents and children, cancer survivors, indigenous communities, and the general population.  

  Breastplates: To Cherish Our Bodies: this workshop and process grew out of a mask making workshop that I was leading at the Omega Institute. A woman asked if she could “cast her breasts.” I tried it myself first and then realized the unlimited power of casting, seeing, holding, preparing and decorating our own body based on the meaning to us at that moment in our lives. This is a workshop that has been offered to many different groups including: women who are dealing with breast cancer, at risk teens, and the general population of both women and men. In addition to being a breast plate, they have taken different forms like a mask and breastplate connected into one piece.