Ouch!

Friday, April 24

Flora
C-print
24” x 20”
2006

Pointelle
C-print
20” x 24”
2006

V
C-print
24” x 20”
2006

Herringbone
C-print
20” x 24”
2006

Flora (Kneel)
C-print
24” x 20”
2006

Patterns' Faction
C-print
20” x 17”
2005


According to the artist, this isn't as painful as it looks. She has a condition called dermatographia which makes her body produces excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the skin’s surface is lightly scratched. Still....makes me squim....but interesting.


9 comments:

Art Nest said...

oh my... it is kind of cool - reminds me of Harry Potter and the pen that 'scratched' his skin... I wonder what she 'scratches' herself with...

sarasophia said...

Wow.

and um, eww.

but still, wow.

<3 sarasophia

Rubyellen said...

wow! i didn't know this was a real condition. i had this all throughout highschool. all my friends, especially the guys, like to torture me and see my skin puff! once, they pressed a pair of scissors (the side not the point) to my forehead and i was left with an imprint of the scissors for bit of time. it took a good 30 minutes for it to go down too! it was only through high school though. i guess my body balanced out. got the dress! thanks!!! love it.

N. said...

So cool! What a way to make the best of it. :D I had this condition when I was living overseas for a year back when I was 12. Not painful at all and it was fun to write on your skin when you were 12. :D

Anonymous said...

Ouch indeed. When I saw this I thought of needles! Still, I'm amazed :-)

Abbie S-Dyer said...

yikes--kinda gross, but pretty cool, it made me take a second look to make sure it was what i thought it was and sure enough it was, still looks painful!

Missy said...

This is so funny for me to see. I had this in college. I first realized I could do it while I was on a trip...it was entertaining for myself and other.

The funny thing was when we got back I wrote my roomates name on my head! She didn't know anything about this and was totally freaked out!!

It's so funny to me to hear that so many other people have had this. I can no longer really write on myself...my allergy medicine prevents this...which is good, because I was always itchy!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

So strange--and yet so beautiful!

Deborah Raymond said...

I too have had dermatographia my whole life, as well as my mother. I used to have fun with it back in jr. high and high school. I got out of all sorts of classes just by slapping my leg or arm then go to my teacher in a panic. Now it's not so fun to have marks all over when wearing a bathing suit, or just by crossing my legs while wearing a skirt.