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The skin artist
Home » Art, Pics » The skin artist
By Spooky | 80 CommentsLeave a Comment
Last updated: Saturday, February 23, 2008

Ariana Page is a very…unique artist, due to the fact that she suffers from a condition known as dermatographia (the immune system exhibits hypersensitivity, via skin, that releases excessive amounts of histamine, causing capillaries to dilate and welts to appear (lasting about thirty minutes) when the skin’s surface is lightly scratched). She draws various patterns on her body and then takes pictures of herself, thus works of art are born.

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Comments

80 comments
  1. jon
    March 8, 2008

    Hey! Check out how cool my disease looks!

    Leave a reply
  2. martha
    March 13, 2008

    That last one looks like my thigh right now, because the cats keep landing and taking off, with their usual delicacy of claws.

    Leave a reply
  3. Konstantin
    March 13, 2008

    Thats uncalled for, it must be quite annoying to have that. But I think its really impressive what you did with that. Im surprised at how detailed the lines are.

    Leave a reply
  4. Kade
    March 13, 2008

    Man she would make me a frickin great assistant. Middle of nowhere with nothing to write on. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Walkin post-it note lol.

    Leave a reply
  5. Matt
    March 13, 2008

    This is some really wild stuff! I’d love to see more.

    Leave a reply
  6. hivey too
    March 17, 2008

    I find this useful when you can’t find a pen and need to write down something really quick.

    Leave a reply
  7. TheGabe
    March 17, 2008

    Eww, that’s cool yet quite horrible.
    Imagine what she looks like after sex XD

    Leave a reply
  8. X0mb1e
    March 17, 2008

    wow……………..and I thought only my skin did that

    Leave a reply
  9. Sean
    March 17, 2008

    I agree that it’s a unique condition. I disagree that having this condition automatically gives her the moniker of ‘Artist’.

    Labeling her such is an insult to true artists everywhere (I assure you I am not one). Connecting the moles on her legs? Writing sentences? Is she considered an artist because her doodles are fleeting?

    If thats the criteria lets all grab a camera and start posting pictures of our turds. Each one is unique to it’s creator. And they are usually temporary, flushed away. Some even go to great lengths to master this form of expression, I.E. tubgirl.com

    Leave a reply
  10. Nate
    March 17, 2008

    Sean’s an ass don’t listen to him.

    Leave a reply
  11. @Sean
    March 18, 2008

    I agree with you to some extent. Modern art ’splatters’ and ’strokes’ (i.e. ‘expressive art’) just angers me. Expressing yourself is great, but doing so in a way that is aesthetically pleasing is the essence of art. I like many modern arts, just not the purely expressive types. anywho, back on topic.

    I would call this art, it’s an interesting and new idea. Writing sentences on the legs is a beautiful and clever thuoght, IMO. I don’t want the picture in a museum, but I’d consider it art.

    Leave a reply
  12. Bobo the Clown
    March 18, 2008

    Hold her in your arms and you can feel her disease.

    Leave a reply
  13. ANON
    March 18, 2008

    i wish i had that disease

    Leave a reply
  14. sinner
    March 18, 2008

    Yes.. what is a true artist…. Allot of modern artists should be lined up against a wall and shot… their art contributes nothing to art or society. My proof, who was that artist who displayed a blank piece of paper as art, an consequently sold it to some one who had more money then sense, im my opinion they should be shot too…

    Leave a reply
  15. allot?
    March 18, 2008

    @sinner: in my opinion, those who spell ‘a lot’ as ‘allot’ should be berated and ridiculed.

    Leave a reply
  16. Soul
    March 18, 2008

    Art is one of those things that each person has to decide the worth of. There are famous artist out there that just don’t move me at all. This woman is expressing herself in a medium that is unique to her. She has taken a negative thing in her life and turned it into something beautiful to share with all of us. I never knew of this condition and now I feel I’ve been educated in a wonderful way.

    Leave a reply
  17. Shandooga
    March 18, 2008

    And we’re doing this, why?

    Leave a reply
  18. rosie
    March 18, 2008

    i have that too!

    Leave a reply
  19. Drew
    March 18, 2008

    I have Dermataographia er whatever she calls it. I’ve been told it’s called Dermagraphism. Sean, you’re a complete tool. Please tell us more about your unique cynical views. You are the first one to think of those insults. I personally think this is a wonderful thing she’s done. It’s embarrassing to show people this but she’s made something positive out of it.

    Leave a reply
  20. Secora
    March 18, 2008

    I love it! Its very beautiful! =^.^=

    Leave a reply
  21. Stephanie
    March 19, 2008

    I have this disease, and trust me it gets annoying sometimes. But I really like how she’s using it to her advantage. :)

    Leave a reply
  22. Ashley
    March 21, 2008

    I wonder if that itches?

    Leave a reply
  23. george
    March 21, 2008

    YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Leave a reply
  24. itchy
    March 21, 2008

    Yes, it itches. It can be somewhat controlled with antihistamines. Hers must itch almost unbearably (as she obviously is choosing not to medicate herself). When this happens to my back it feels like someone is stabbing me with tiny needles. I admire the way she has turned this around. The condition can be very embarrassing, especially when I get the hives over my face or neck. You can’t even change your shirt without your arm breaking out in hives… and lord help you if you SCRATCH the itch…

    Leave a reply
  25. Mike
    March 25, 2008

    Thats awesome, she should’ve showed her face, her body is beautiful

    Leave a reply
  26. amy
    March 25, 2008

    uhhhh kinda gross :(:( i wouldnt be doing that to myself i had that kind of condition .. that would bug me BIG time !!!!!

    Leave a reply
  27. Duncan
    March 25, 2008

    Its so great when somebody has a “Disease” or “Disability” and can turn it into something so positive.

    Leave a reply
  28. yo mama!
    March 25, 2008

    WTF?!?

    Leave a reply
  29. lux
    March 26, 2008

    Hasn’t every little kid done that at one point or another? Scratched “Hi” on their arm, or drew a smiley face, etc. Unless my 3 friends and I just all happened to have this same rare disease. Anyway not trying to disprove her illness, just the originality.

    Leave a reply
  30. Dec
    March 26, 2008

    Meh, it looks cooler when you cut deep into your wrist. But that’s me.

    Leave a reply
  31. Marla
    March 26, 2008

    i really like it.

    Leave a reply
  32. NIcolas
    March 26, 2008

    WOOOW !

    thats one person, who shouldnt be getting a love bite !

    Leave a reply
  33. john sample
    March 26, 2008

    life gave this woman lemons…

    Leave a reply
  34. Aokare
    March 26, 2008

    I think that its wonderful how she is using this to help develop awareness of this. I had never even heard of this disease until I saw this posting. To those of you commenting on cutting and all of that rot, opinion is opinion, but some are voiced out of spite and some are voiced out of true thought. Yours are spite and have no point but to cause pain. Grow up and learn appropriate places and times for such things.

    Leave a reply
  35. Michelle
    March 26, 2008

    This is absolutely beautiful. I love it.

    Leave a reply
  36. Paddy
    March 26, 2008

    I have this thing lol its good craic for freakin ppl out but ppl sayin “Oh it must suck to have it” isnt true. It doesnt really amke a difference lol.

    Leave a reply
  37. Name
    March 26, 2008

    I like how optimistic she is with her skin and how she uses it to her advantage.

    Leave a reply
  38. Jez
    March 26, 2008

    Geez whats with all the white bread attitude? I think you’ve done something beautiful with your condition (not disease), and good on you for your ‘artistic’ expression.

    The rest of you: Get a life..

    Leave a reply
  39. Triple
    March 26, 2008

    This does suck to have. You deal with it and move on. Some days are worse then others. Tools, she didn’t cut herself or anything like that. She just scratched those areas on herself and it happened. Cutting is something different all together.

    Leave a reply
  40. Jason
    March 27, 2008

    Yeah, I have this too. I didn’t realize it was actually a “condition”. Dermatographia itself literally does nothing but this (there are other more bothersome related conditions), but it’s pretty fun when you’re bored. As for the whole “she’s not a real artist” stuff from Sean, he’s right to the extent that they’re just doodles; the actual art about it comes from the fact that she has such a unique canvas at her disposal, which gives everything an interesting and unusual texture and allows her to incorporate her body into it. A good chunk of the artistic merit here comes from the actual photography itself, too.

    Leave a reply
  41. Jason
    March 27, 2008

    PS
    Beer bottle caps leave cool marks

    Leave a reply
  42. Isaac
    March 27, 2008

    Sean: art is something that people find beautiful. People find this beautiful.

    Leave a reply
  43. whitney
    March 27, 2008

    that looks like complete shit. why would u do that.

    Leave a reply
  44. Claire
    April 1, 2008

    I like the idea - I have mild psoriasis, and that’s enough to drive me nuts when it itches and burns - so kudos to you for coping with it :D I love the image, it made me and my partner smile and we learned something new. Thank you.

    Leave a reply
  45. Vandy
    April 3, 2008

    Thats really lovely, very zen…

    Leave a reply
  46. Malrey
    April 4, 2008

    What Do You Use To Do It??

    Leave a reply
  47. Aaron
    April 5, 2008

    I have to say,
    you are an absolute inspiration…
    I’m dermagraphic as well,
    and I’ve always looked at it as the BIGGEST inconvenience.
    Just barely scratching your face,
    and it whelps up to the point where it could be mistaken for a bear scratch.

    But after seeing these photos,
    it’s not such an inconvenience anymore.
    But more of an art form.
    Thank you,
    Aaron.

    Leave a reply
  48. antonio
    April 7, 2008

    guys, i kinda have the same thing,if i pinch myself for like 10 sec then a minute later, that happens.

    is it just me? 0__o

    Leave a reply
  49. Gerald
    April 9, 2008

    Sure, maybe it’s akin to “modern art.”

    Sinner, you said that modern artists’ art contributes nothing to society. This may seem like a stretch, but she’s displaying something beautiful out of her condition. She’s overcoming her humanity and making something awesome out of it, something that speaks of our nature. It definitely has relevance to society. Beauty out of illness, and not in an emo sort of way.

    Leave a reply
  50. Minna
    April 18, 2008

    Dermatographismus isn’t “unique” or even that rare, I’ve seen loads of patients with it, even two of my friends suffer from it.

    Leave a reply
  51. Snake
    April 21, 2008

    Eww..gross.

    Leave a reply
  52. Buffy
    April 23, 2008

    wow.. the poster child for “if god gives you lemons, make lemonade”

    Leave a reply
  53. lilly
    April 29, 2008

    its cool that shes liking this, but what i see is yucky red marks on a neon white canvas! gross!

    Leave a reply
  54. Jeannine
    May 16, 2008

    She’s absolutely beautiful…

    like already stated,

    When life gives you lemons….

    Leave a reply
  55. To Whom It May Concern
    May 23, 2008

    Because you see the word “art” or “artist” does not give you the right to appraise her skin or form of coping as if she were putting herself up for sale as high art. Art is what it is….it is simply a form of expression. Art is the fish a kindergarten student draws with crayons and fingerpaint. Art is the still life that a college student spends three weeks on completing for their class. Art is the famous Van Gogh painting that hangs in a museum. There is no set definition for what is ‘good’ art or ‘bad’ art.

    She chooses to show the creative patterns on her skin, and she is met with ugly, negative feedback from people who don’t understand. Those without the condition (myself included) could not ever understand what she goes through daily, and therefore have little room to judge her as anything but creative.

    It may not be Monet’s Water Lily series, and you may not LIKE what you see….but if you don’t, simply browse onto some other page. Don’t take the time to call her gross or weird.

    Nobody with any kind of condition, especially one who is brave enough to post the effects so openly, deserves ridicule or harsh criticism from ignorant oafs looking to show of false intelligence.

    This is beautiful IN ITS OWN WAY. Learn to appreciate that. Not everything art has to be slathered paint on a canvas!

    Leave a reply
  56. diana
    June 10, 2008

    art is beauty, art is life, art is fleeting, art is eternal, art is whatever you want it to be. if she wants to make marks on her body, then she can! the only thing that would worry me would be if she started slashing her wrists or something like that. i agree with a lot of the opinions i am seeing about art. i think fireworks are art, and in a way, they are. i think a birds nest is art, and again,it kind of is. art is what you wish it to be, it doesn’t have a fixed set of rules. artists throughout history have used what they can to create something beautiful to themselves, and sometimes, people only discover it when the see it years later. most of the time an artist only gets famous after death.if she does this and thinks it is beauty, then it is a kind of art! art is what we wish it to be.
    “if life gives you lemons, make grape juice and then sit back and let the world wonder how you did it”
    she is making the best of her situation, why can’t all people appreciate that?

    Leave a reply
  57. Kerrigan
    June 10, 2008

    To Whom it May Concern: Thank you, that’s what I wanted to say.

    I’m an artist, and not all artists sell their work or try to make copious mountains of cash. Most just want to express themselves. I think it rocks that she took something unfortunate and made it into something beautiful. I wish I could find a way to do that with my disability. Her condition may not be “unique” or “rare” but what she chose to do with it is.

    Leave a reply
  58. Photo
    June 12, 2008

    Shopped

    Leave a reply
  59. johnny
    August 8, 2008

    yea, me too

    Leave a reply
  60. erin
    October 18, 2008

    You mean this isn’t normal? That happens to me. It’s not quite as pronounced, but it’s still noticeable. Someone will ask me why my face has a pink splotch and then I remember that I had an itch there 15 minutes ago.

    Leave a reply
  61. francisonline
    October 22, 2008

    shopped or not……..wow

    Leave a reply
  62. rick
    October 27, 2008

    cool, i was one of the first to be diagnosed with this disorder back in the sixties. i would like to communicate with ariana if she can take time to talk .

    Leave a reply
  63. Mik
    October 29, 2008

    It is unusual, but she turned around an embarrassing condition and did something positive with it.

    Leave a reply
  64. aidan0105
    November 21, 2008

    ouch does it hurt?

    Leave a reply
  65. Thomas
    December 13, 2008

    I think this is really rather beautiful.

    Leave a reply
  66. Stranger
    January 4, 2009

    Soul posted:
    “Art is one of those things that each person has to decide the worth of. There are famous artist out there that just don’t move me at all. This woman is expressing herself in a medium that is unique to her. She has taken a negative thing in her life and turned it into something beautiful to share with all of us. I never knew of this condition and now I feel I’ve been educated in a wonderful way.”

    I felt this should be echo’ed. It’s all that really needs to be said.

    Leave a reply
  67. Expert
    January 17, 2009

    I can’t believe no one’s said it yet. Photo shopped!!

    Leave a reply
  68. Becca
    January 18, 2009

    I actually have pretty much te same thing. My skin is hyper-sensitive.

    I don’t think it’s as extreme as this case, but my skin is still very reactive to being scratched even very lightly.

    Leave a reply
  69. ButtChamber
    January 23, 2009

    I call Bamboon Tampoon on that!

    Leave a reply
  70. Lainey
    February 6, 2009

    I have the same condition and yes it does itch!

    Leave a reply
  71. Julia
    March 2, 2009

    That’s awesome what she’s done with that. They look like white-ink tattoos.

    Leave a reply
  72. Pounded Ink
    March 5, 2009

    That is some of the best scarification I have ever seen.

    Leave a reply
  73. Fervor
    May 30, 2009

    I was actually hoping to see the face of the fair skinned lady - nice post!

    Leave a reply
  74. gzm
    June 10, 2009

    I’m sorry but I think that is disgusting! I can’t imagine myself touching it! I am not close minded! but oh my god!! What is this? What was your purpose when doing this? What are you doing to your skin?

    Leave a reply
  75. Sean
    June 14, 2009

    I seriously think I have that disease.

    Leave a reply
  76. d
    June 16, 2009

    I agree with ya, man.

    Leave a reply
  77. L-ROD
    June 16, 2009

    sexy!!! and on THAT body, even more so…

    Leave a reply
  78. Ariana_Defender
    June 18, 2009

    It’s nice to see all the websurfers out there becoming art critics. It’s especially refreshing to see so many people criticizing someone for doing something truly original with the cards they’ve been dealt.

    Not that Ariana needs defending, but she is a real artist:
    http://www.arianapagerussell.com/

    Leave a reply
  79. monika medina
    June 23, 2009

    my skin does this too…i never looked at it as art though. its hard especially when i scratch myself [ LIGHTLY] it looks as if i was attacked by a cat, what is this skin type reffered as or does it have a name??

    Leave a reply
  80. brian
    June 29, 2009

    wow she hot

    Leave a reply

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