Joeline Goddard-Ducque

Second Skin explores the relationship between social media and identity, focusing on the contrast between online self-presentation and real-life authenticity. Through the creation of textile masks, the work examines how digital culture encourages curated and altered versions of the self through filters, editing apps, and image manipulation. The masks act as symbols of concealment, transformation, and performance, reflecting the process of constructing online personas.

This project examines the psychological pressure that social media places on individuals to conform to contemporary beauty standards and maintain carefully constructed digital identities. The process of making the masks mirrors the construction of online identities, where appearance can be shaped, hidden, or exaggerated.

Second Skin invites people to reflect on their own online habits and question how much of their digital identity is genuine, constructed, or hidden behind a “second skin”.