Human skin

The life of a conservator is full of surprises.

I have been asked to advise on the conservation and mounting of a 6
inch diameter piece of human skin.  The skin is about to be
surgically removed from the artist's body.  The artist's intent is
to mount the skin on a medallion once it has has dried and shrunk.

The conservator will have to work alongside the skin surgeon and
take over from him after the surgery has been completed.  The
conservator would need to monitor the piece of skin during curing
and prevent damage which would cause the loss of the skin and
artwork.

Guessing or testing a possible treatment are not options.  This is a
hit or miss kind of situation hence thorough research is extremely
important to the success of this "once in the artist's lifetime"
project.

I would appreciate comments and suggestions on how to assist the
artist with his request.

Flavia Perugini
Associate Objects Conservator
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 27:35
                  Distributed: Tuesday, March 18, 2014
                       Message Id: cdl-27-35-014
                                  ***