Stavanger, Norway
It is a sad day when “wellness” becomes just one more trend enforcing toxic consumerism, environmental and bodily pollution, rigid beauty standards, and narcissistic self-hatred. That sad day is now, and it finds crafty expression in a tufted tapestry by Johanna Warberg. “SkinCARE,” part of an ongoing series named justgirlythings for the 2010s internet phenomenon, illustrates a young woman engaged in her beauty routine at the bathroom mirror, an array of products laid out in front of her. Goop would style that scene as a minimalist self-care idyll; Warberg makes of it a terrifying monstrosity. The girl’s skin is sickly green, the patterns overwhelming, the product labels alarming. No one should want to participate in this situation, but social media tells us we should and we must, and many do, unaware that there are and have always been other options. Perhaps a justgirlythings guerilla intervention might be justified?
—Lori Waxman, March 18, 5:33 PM