Last year, many of you might have seen Jessica Dymond with her camera at many Beauty Night programming. The documentary footage she shot has evolved into Skin Deep, Mixed media installation by Jessica Dymond at the IMA Gallery in Toronto.  The opening reception is June 10th from 6-9pm.

Taken directly from her page, here is her description of the project and a sneak peak at part of the installation.

Skin Deep
Mixed media installation by Jessica Dymond

June 1-18, 2011
Opening Reception June 10, 6-9 PM

I.M.A. Gallery (80 Spadina Avenue, Toronto)
Hours: Wed-Sat, 12-5 PM

Skin Deep explores issues of empowerment, feminine identity, and self-worth in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Visual representation of the Downtown Eastside and its residents is often problematic, focusing largely on the shock value of the neighbourhood’s most well-known issues: prostitution, drug addiction, HIV and, perhaps most notoriously, the missing women. While these issues certainly deserve attention, the focus tends to be on individuals-at-risk, rather than the area’s demonstrably strong sense of community, particularly within a feminine context. This multi-screen, non-linear documentary project is a re-creation of Beauty Night, a drop-in event which provides beauty services to self-identified, including transgendered, women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The project includes short video portraits of the women who attend Beauty Night, shown through two-way mirrors, as well as projections of the neighbourhood shot on Super 8 film. The goal of the installation, including the mirrored reflections, is to create a sense of self-reflexivity in the audience, and help to physically close the psychological gap in the social hierarchy.

Skin Deep is currently on display as part of the Doc Now Festival.