Coco Johnson

As an emphasis was put on making your own protective mask at home during the pandemic, I began sewing fabric breasts into a protective helmet or shield. Once completed, I decided to push the concept further by making a protective body suit. In isolation, I used myself as a model. I began exploring the relationship I have to my body and the effect of performative movements. Being blind within the body suit, the actions I perform depend on mood, physical touch, how I navigate my environment, and the surrounding noise. The blindness furthermore allows me to explore choreography that flows naturally throughout my body. The process partially resembles an interpretive dance.The long exposure captures my movements rendering them continual and fluid, yet I am restricted to a confined space. The physical force of domesticity fights against my body and its actions. 

The title Body Armor felt appropriate for the series as it derives from a time when populations are protecting themselves not only from disease, but also from many forms of prejudice. The work serves to embrace the body, a place of empowerment, with all its unique flaws and celebrate the raw power of the unedited. It is a way to accept one’s self and to view others without judgment of the physical body.