Provocatively Battered Portraiture

Not everyone has the stomach for these Peony Yip illustrations of subjects with large bruises on their faces and bloody noses. Titled ‘Brutal Honesty,’ the people featured in this collection all appear to be victims of excessive violence, and at times, it’s really difficult to hold eye contact with these renderings. Taking into account the series’ name, one can postulate that Yip is saying the truth is sometimes as hurtful to a person as physical abuse. Whatever your interpretation, there’s no denying that these images are highly provocative in concept and execution.

Peony Yip illustrated these pictures using pencils to define the attributes of her subjects and watercolors to depict the multicolored hues of each person’s bruises and injuries. The series as a whole is difficult to look at despite its technical artistry.