Today I came across the work of Ariana Russell via Design for Mankind. Russell has a skin condition called dermatographia which causes her skin, when scratched, to raise in welts. Instead of hiding this condition, she transforms it into something celebrated and beautiful. She does a much better job of explaining both the condition and her process here.

The Design for Mankind post asks, “What an example Ariana is to the rest of our community. Are we allowing our originality to shape our artwork? Or are we holding back the “conditions” that we each have, afraid that we’ll be deemed too different, outdated or amateur?”

This is a lovely question to ask, because while we may have piercings or tattoos or other adornments we add ourselves, what differences do we have as individuals that we don’t share with others? The differences we didn’t pick, but were genetically given? We can adorn ourselves with all sorts of wonderful things and lovely artwork, but what do we not want the world to see?

Russell is using her “difference” to create lovely work not only in a literal sense but also in one more conceptual. By allowing her condition to be the center of attention, she is demystifying it and making that line between cultural conceptions of “different” and “normal” that much harder to find.

I think it’s there in that spot where you feel ashamed or weird or alone where you can really get in touch with your own creativity in ways you might not have done before. That spot is where boldness lies, and wherein taking some time to sit with it, we can create and heal simultaneously. What could we all make with our own hands if we were truly bold?