This piece, made from silicone, acrylic paint, and human hair, tackles my battle with dermatillomania, otherwise known as a compulsion to pick at one’s skin obsessively. When working with silicone, I found that this compulsion pulled me to pick at this replica of my hand. The rubbery material can be torn apart in a way that is so satisfying to my brain. So I let myself pick, carving craters into the faux-flesh, a visual exaggeration of the way I treat my own cuticles and scalp. The hair ‘growing’ from under the fingernails provides a connection to the scalp, the primary victim of my dermatillomania. At times, my picking has resulted in small bald patches on my head. Because of this, the hair is meant to express a desire to grow away from this habit, to let my follicles grow again where I once tore them out.