Austin Smith Is Profiled on Vice

Known as empty.pools on Instagram, Austin Smith (BFA 2017) adorns his face with chicken wire, glass, piercings, and airbrushed tattoos to create beautiful and alien looks. According to Vice, Smith’s processes demonstrate how “the ability to make something so sublime not impossible.” Through a curated Instagram feed of more than a 100,000 followers, his designs are a medium to express his emotions

Smith’s practice is “one that exposes what’s not under the mask but what’s beneath himself.” He independently operates the execution of his designs, from taking and editing photos to using scar wax for special effects.