Tickets
General Ticket: $20
Member Ticket: $15
In a world saturated with technology, Jamie Diamond invites viewers to explore the evolving nature of relationships in her short film Skin Hunger. Join us at The Church for a screening of the film and a follow-up discussion and Q&A with the Creator Jamie Diamond, Director of Photography Matt Cianfrani, producers Amy Lawday and Abby Russel, and touch practitioner and subject of the film: Ella.
Peering into the epidemic of loneliness and the service economies that have emerged in response to the growing need surrounding touch, intimacy, Skin Hunger explores the emergence of a new kind of service: the renting of people for nonsexual touch, a.k.a. cuddling.
The 26-minute short film introduces viewers to Steven, a handsome, affable 60-year-old man who lives alone in Coney Island. He’s a film buff and, each day, he travels to Times Square for work where he is surrounded by people. But, inside, he is suffocating from loneliness and a yearning to be touched — or “skin hunger.” He contacts Ella, New York City’s leading touch practitioner, and embarks on a wild journey of discovery. “Skin Hunger” spotlights the phenomenon of paying for platonic touch, and its rapidly growing community which seeks to share the mental and physical restorative benefits of touch with the rest of the world.
This screening has been program in tandem with our Fall exhibition Here & There: The First Churchennial. Learn more about the show by visiting our exhibition page here.
ABOUT JAMIE DIAMOND
Filmmaker and Director
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Jamie Diamond (b. 1983, USA) is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of intimacy, identity, technology, and performance. For over 15 years, she has investigated the evolving nature of human connection through photography, sculpture, video, performance, and film. Diamond frequently inserts herself into her work or collaborates with strangers, professional actors, and outsider artists to inhabit a wide range of characters and constructed identities. Her work blurs the boundaries between the authentic and the artificial, challenging conventional narratives around truth, persona, and intimacy.
Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions, some of which include, Osservatorio, Fondazione Prada, Italy; Prada Mode, Hong Kong; Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal; Museum für neue Kunst, Germany; Mass MoCA, North Adams, The Bronx Museum, New York; Trapholt Museum, Denmark; Kunsthalle Erfurt, Germany; Fondazione La Triennale, Milan; Deichtorhallen, Hamburg; and Museo d’Arte Contemporanea della Sicilia, Palermo.
In addition, Diamond served as cinematographer and producer on the short feature film, A Minor Variation (2018) and directed /produced Skin Hunger (2024) which was screened at the Watermill Center and the Anthology Film Archives.
Diamond is a recipient of the NYFA Fellowship Award in Photography, the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship Award, and The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation. She’s held Residencies at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Bronx Museum, MassMoCA, Mana Contemporary, The Watermill Center, The Church, and the LMCC Swing Space residency and Work Space. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, artnet, AnOther Magazine, Whitewall, Muse Magazine, Aperture, Artforum, Hyperallergic, Vanity Fair, The Architects Newspaper, Vogue, and Artsy. Diamond received her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 2008 and BA from the University of Wisconsin in 2005. Since 2009, she has been lecturing in photography at the University of Pennsylvania and is currently the head of the Undergraduate Photography Department.
She lives and works in New York.
ELLA
Subject of Film and Cuddlist
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Ella is a native Brazilian visual artist who spent 13 years teaching art at various public schools in New York and Virginia before becoming a platonic touch therapist. As a visual artist and educator with a lifelong passion for healing, holistic wellness, and the emotional landscape of human connection, she found the intimacy and depth of touch therapy work to be both rewarding and deeply insightful. In 2017, Ella became a Certified Professional Cuddlist, expanding her practice into the realm of therapeutic touch and somatic healing. Since then, she has worked with hundreds of clients from diverse backgrounds in New York City, offering a grounding, affirming space for emotional nourishment and human connection. You can find out more about Ella’s therapeutic work at https://www.cuddletherapynyc.com/