This Artist Has A Condition That Lets Her Draw On Her Skin—And The Photos Are Wild
For as long as I can remember, my skin has been different. As a teen, I thought it was just super sensitive. I blushed easily and would get bright red, raised welts any time I was touched with enough pressure, brushed against something, or even lightly scratched an itch. Whenever I would rub under my eye, a few minutes later someone would freak out and point at me and say, “Oh my God, what happened to you?! It looks like you got hit in the face!”
I didn't like the attention and found it embarrassing when people would comment about my skin. It wasn’t until I was older that I was diagnosed with a condition called dermatographia (or “skin writing condition”), which hyper-sensitizes the skin to touch, stress, diet, and chemicals. It affects about 5 percent of the population.
I discovered I had dermatographia by accident, when I was in graduate school for art.
I was taking photographs in my Seattle apartment for a project. In the process, I scratched my knee, and, as usual, a welt appeared shortly after. I realized I liked the pattern it had made on my skin, so I took some photos of it. Later, when my professor and peers were in my art studio for a visit and I was showing them a different body of work, they saw the skin photos and gravitated toward them.
They told me that hadn't seen anything like it before and asked if I knew why my skin had that kind of reaction. I said I didn't and decided to see a dermatologist to find out more. She diagnosed me right away with dermatographia. It was so nice to finally have a name for what my skin was doing!
The condition doesn’t have a known cause or cure, but there are things I can do to manage it. While the welts don't hurt and typically only last for about half an hour, they can be itchy and hot to the touch. For me, a natural moisturizer like almond oil or coconut oil helps. And certain things, like stress and temperature changes, can trigger more severe reactions in some people, so managing stress is key.
While the condition itself isn't debilitating, the shame around it can be. That's why I want to spread the word about dermatographia and how it can be beautiful.
I still get anxious when I feel a welt forming on my face, knowing people will see it and probably react to it. But my relationship with dermatographia has changed from when I was younger because I'm no longer ashamed of it. I also have it to a lesser degree now.
With the encouragement of my professors and peers I decided to pursue photographing my dermatographia. I played around with drawing on my skin (usually with a stylus, like a knitting needle) to get some really pronounced welts. I loved how the drawings looked! Sometimes I freehand the designs and other times I use stencils I've created—because it takes a few minutes for the skin to raise, it can be hard to see what I'm drawing without one.
My friend made me a website where I could showcase my work, and after some of it was featured on a blog, my art went viral. I even went on 20/20 in 2008 to talk about dermatographia and share my art. Suddenly, this thing I thought nobody cared about was seen as beautiful and interesting. I was showing people what my skin could do instead of trying to hide it. I realize now that visibility is what really allowed me to make peace with it.
By sharing my art on social media, I’ve found an entire community of people with dermatographia. So many people have the condition but can’t get diagnosed because many doctors don’t know much about it. I get emails from people all over the world who found out about the condition by googling their symptoms and finding my photographs. They say, "that's what my skin does too!" I'm so glad we've all been able to connect and share how we manage the condition while realizing we're not alone. There are a lot of us skin writers out there!
My dermatographia has gotten better with time, but it’s still there. But now, I treat it with curiosity and know that it’s what makes me unique. I hope that anyone who sees my art, especially young people, knows that if their skin has this reaction, there’s nothing wrong with them.
I know what it’s like to be embarrassed by my skin, but spending time hating it because it does weird and unpredictable things never helped me feel any better. Showing my skin love, honoring it, and celebrating it is what changed my outlook, and I hope it can help other people with dermatographia feel the same.
You can find more information about Ariana and living with dermatographia at www.skintome.com.
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