Skindeep is a highly engaging short animated film - co-written with Dr. Robert Carter, Ph.D Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University - that uncovers the story of racial trauma beneath personal experiences. The film illustrates, for the first time ever, the full impact of systematic racism on people’s mental health, particularly women of color. The story starts after Dominique experiences an act of racism at a swimming event. When her account is denied by her coach, she embarks upon a journey within herself where she is confronted with the racial trauma.The film launched in April 2021, correlating with Mental Health Awareness Month and it was first previewed to more than one thousand psychology graduates, sparking the conversation within the academic community.

Each frame of the Skindeep animation was hand-painted by female artists of color. All of the frames were painted on top of hundreds of news stories about racism that range from the 1920’s through present day. The intention was not to erase history, but add extra layers of complexity to it. For the first time ever, our film addresses the terrible mental health consequences associated with systematic racist events over time. We've visually created two separated worlds: internal and external and the art direction was crutial to make it clear. The external world is bright, full of light, the internal world is dark and moody.