Moving Forward with "Perceive Me" - 2025 Edition

Kristine Schomaker
May 16
3 min read

I thought I was done with "Perceive Me." I couldn't do it anymore. In 2023, life got complicated when I found out I had kidney cancer. The work that goes into this project overwhelmed me. The time and money got to be too much. I was struggling with my eating disorder and gaining more weight.

My body and mind became a literal battleground.

But I am an artist. I am always thinking, always looking, always paying attention, always fighting the good fight.

It took one invitation from The Other Art Fair in 2024 to bring "Perceive Me" back and I was all in.

All of the stress from the last 5 years was gone. What stress?

April 4-7 2024 in Santa Monica was amazing. It was empowering.

It made me realize that I will never be done with "Perceive Me."

It is such an important subject, having confidence in ourselves no matter what anyone thinks of us; challenging ideas of beauty; feeling comfortable in our own skin... and so on.

It is who I am and what I do as an artist. My work is about my body.

It is about drawing attention to how culture and society judge and criticise and talk about 'others' who are not 'ideal' not 'perfect.' It is about learning to live in the moment, in our bodies, recognizing who we are and that we are beautiful.

It is about learning to love ourselves as we are, for who we are, not what we look like.

Recently it has also become about my/our changing bodies. As I get older, my body is changing in ways I had no idea, and I don't like. I need "Perceive Me" more than ever!

"Perceive Me" will continue on for as long as it needs to. It has become a movement.

A social practice work that is engaging the public by letting artists perceive them.

I am looking forward to other outlets, other paths that "Perceive Me" will go. But for now I am living in the moment, one day at a time, one body at a time, shifting the perspective that our self worth comes from within, comes from our actions, not from external forces that we have no control over.

ALSO

Looking for volunteers to help with applying for Perceive Me Grants, during the upcoming artwalk and more related to Perceive Me. Email me at kristineschomaker@gmail.com if you would like to join a cohort of volunteers to move this project forward.

If you would like to participate in "Perceive Me" there are two ways:

Become a "Perceive Me" collaborator. Work with me to create a representational figurative artwork of my plus sized body. (You don't have to live in LA. I can send you photos.) All you have to do is sign up, talk with me through email, zoom, in person and create the work, then send me the artwork framed and ready to hang when it is done. It will travel in exhibitions, be included in the catalog and you will receive 40% of sales. The work becomes part of the "Perceive Me" project and you become a part of our "Perceive Me" community.

More info and to sign up to be a collaborator.

AND/OR

Join the "Perceive Me" drawing cohort.

I am looking for artists to join the "Perceive Me" community and be part of the drawing cohort for the social practice part of "Perceive Me."

There is no charge to sign up. Artists receive 50% of sales from any drawings sold.

"To honor ourselves, our soul shells, the skin that houses our true selves is a gift. We wear these parts on the outside and we walk through life being judged by the way others may view them. Rather than absorbing the judgment - those of us who stepped onto that podium... opened ourselves up to love instead." ~Model from the public who shared their experience from our first set of sessions at The Other Art Fair in Santa Monica in April.

Follow this link for more info

Recent collaborative sessions...