Natalie Fletcher, winner of season one of Skin Wars, painted my body in honor of World Psoriasis Day. The event was sponsored by Novartis. Photos by David Plakke.
Originally published on Oct. 27, 2016. Reposted for World Psoriasis Day 2018.
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” – Pablo Picasso
“The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” – Aristotle
“Art is not what you see, but what you make other see.” – Edgar Degas
“I don’t want life to imitate art. I want life to be art.” – Ernst Fischer
All of these are true. How do I know? I was the canvas.
Earlier this month, I received the great honor of having myself body painted to help raise awareness for World Psoriasis Day. It was an incredible experience, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity I will never forget.
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. sponsored an amazing project and invited three psoriasis bloggers – Alisha Bridges, Howard Chang, and myself – to New York City to be body painted by Natalie Fletcher, an artist living with psoriasis and the winner of the first season of Skin Wars. (If you haven’t seen Skin Wars, check it out on Netflix. So cool!)
I can’t think of a better way to raise awareness for a disease that manifests on the skin, than to showcase beautiful art on the skin of actual psoriasis patients. The art exemplifies the beauty within and says that psoriasis is only one part of who we are. Psoriasis does not define us.
After reading by blog and getting to know me during a phone interview, Natalie envisioned a monarch butterfly theme for my body art, explaining that I transitioned from being a caregiver of my son who had psoriasis to being a patient when I was diagnosed a few years later. It also represented new beginnings.
Originally only planning on painting my hands, her vision soon developed into the top half of my body. And, don’t worry. I wasn’t naked. It took around three hours to paint me, and I never once felt exposed or scared. For someone who is usually pretty guarded in this area, to feel this comfortable was pretty amazing. Natalie was so professional, yet completely relaxed, fun and always looking out for me during the process. (I’ll admit, though, some of the brush strokes did tickle.)
The event also featured videographers from New York Magazine and a photo shoot from New York photographer David Plakke. All of the photos used in this post were taken by him. Incredible, right?
The end result? All I have to say is that she nailed it. The art was breathtaking. Simply gorgeous.
It was so beautiful, in fact, I decided not to shower and go straight from the studio to the airport and take the art home to show my husband and best friend. Believe it or not, the design pretty much lasted the whole trip home. Clothes covered most of the artwork, but my hands were exposed, so I did get a few looks in the airport. When I handed the TSA agent my license and boarding pass, he said, “Miss, you appear to have paint on your hands.” I replied, “Actually, I have paint on the whole upper half of my body.” He handed me back my items and said, “Ok, good luck with that.” Everyone in line had a good chuckle.
Thank you to Novartis for this amazing experience, and a big thank you to Natalie for her vision, talent, and support.
For more information on this experience, read the National Psoriasis Foundation’s blog.
