ATX (2021) Gallery

This virtual open call was specifically for Austin, TX individuals who are historically marginalized, including those who identify as: LGBTQ+, nonbinary, chronically ill, mentally ill, disabled, fat, neurodivergent, Black, Brown, Indigenous, people of color, and women.

Skin Prints is a project that grants individuals agency to tell their stories in ways that are supportive for individual growth. The creation of a skin print allows collaborators to record and translate places on the body where one has experienced challenges of harm and trauma, or preserve places of positive memory. By providing free materials and clear instructions all interested individuals could participate despite their academic, artistic, or socioeconomic background. The intentionality of choosing a place on the body required collaborators to pay closer attention to their body, and what it might mean for them to share their challenges, fear, or joy, in a way that is supportive, non-invasive, consensual, and within their control. Each collaborator had the most detailed and expressive print chosen from 2-3 created. Under each name features how each collaborator self-identifies.

This online gallery details collaboration from Austin, Texas residents whose stories have been historically ignored, erased, or forgotten. Despite the liberal ideation of Austin as a creative queer-friendly haven, many folks (especially BIPOC) continue to experience identity-based systemic discrimination and oppression, creating deep divides between how Austin is idealized verses the lived experiences of those affected. This divide has been heightened by the ongoing pandemic, the 2021 ice storm, the water and energy grid crises, politics, and much more. This project details how Austin plays a role in individuals’ experience of touch, resiliency, marginalization, and the affects of the pandemic. You can read more by following the click-through buttons titled “Story”, which includes contextual information for each collaborator.


Please be mindful of the following: some stories contain themes of eating disorders, kink/bdsm, trauma, s*x*al assault, and self-harm.

This project reached over 132 individuals who self-identified as marginalized in Austin, TX. Due to the ongoing crises in Austin, 53 collaborators were able to participate. 21 prints were collected with stories, and another 32 prints were collected without stories.

Below is a non-exhaustive compilation of prominent data retrieved from collaborators. It is non-exhaustive because the way in which folks identify often cannot fit into simple categories, many identified in more than one group, and many had identifiers that were mutable and open or undetermined.

Data

The following section is a collection of black and white skin prints featuring unique patterns that consist of tiny white bumps, black streaks, and scars all produced by the skin. There is a round button under each print which brings you to the collaborator’s story.

  • Black and white skin print speckled with tiny white bumps

    Karencita Eliza Aguilar

    Woman, BIPOC, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #295

    Story
  • Black and white skin print speckled with white bumps and dark streak descending just left of center

    Ren Breach

    LGBTQ+, woman, neurodivergent, photographer and human development & family sciences major
    Skin Print #151

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with white, snake skin-like stripe down center

    Susan Butler

    Woman, LGBTQ+, non-binary, disabled/chronically ill, neurodivergent, Art History Major, fledging watercolor artist.
    Skin Print #274

    Story
  • Black and white skin print covered with textures resembling creases

    Grace Calvert

    (she/they)
    Woman, lesbian, disabled/chronically ill
    Skin Print #211

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with thin, white hairs in center

    Becca Carey

    Woman, LGBTQ+, Homeschooled, Ex-fundamentalist Christian
    Skin Print #358

    Story
  • Mostly black skin print with shades of white and speckles scattered throughout

    Molly Devine

    Woman, LGBTQ+, disabled/chronically ill, neurodivergent, filmmaker, animator, illustrator, writer and composer, focusing on storytelling about life with Endometriosis and the various diseases that accompany it.
    Skin Print #144

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with large bumps and dots that resemble freckles

    Wendy Fitch

    Woman, mentally ill, neurodivergent, autistic, artist
    Skin Print #148

    Story
  • Black and white skin print textured with cracks on top half and folds on bottom half

    P. Hatchett

    Woman, LGBTQ+, mentally ill, artist, photographer
    Skin Print #178

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with black, hair-like lines

    Marlon Hedrick

    Mixed race, brown musician
    Skin Print #104

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with large sections of black on left and right

    Kim Hopson

    Woman, disabled artist with a limb difference, who focuses on: disability, motherhood, caregiving and ableist bias in society
    Skin Print #208

    Story
  • Black and white skin print featuring fuzzy texture and unique flower shape formed by skin

    Lea Jinks

    LGBTQ+, non-binary/gender non-conforming, disabled/chronically ill, neurodivergent
    Skin Print #286

    Story
  • Black and white skin print fading from black on top to white on bottom

    Rachel Miller

    LGBTQ+, woman, disabled/chronically ill, fat
    Skin Print #339

    Story
  • Black and white skin print featuring tiny bumps and white speckles.

    Uchenna Ossai

    Black, hetero, cis-female, professor, healthcare provider, first generation American, parents are from Nigeria
    Skin Print #336

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with long, vertical waves pattern

    L. Pearce

    Woman, disabled/chronically ill, fat
    Skin Print #255

    Story
  • Black and white skin print speckled with tiny bumps

    Nicole Fillion-Robin

    Woman, LGBTQ+, biracial (Asian & Caucasian)
    Skin Print #265

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with tiny bumps, lines, and swirly patch near center

    Shen Womack-Smith

    Woman, LGBTQ+, Gender nonconforming, Neurodivergent
    Skin Print #220

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with smooth texture and large white circles in center

    Michelle Strzelczyk

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #178

    Story
  • Mostly black and white skin print with soft white patch in center

    Tiereney Ulmer

    BIPOC, LGBTQ+, non-binary/gender non-conforming, disabled/chronically ill
    Skin Print #361

    Story
  • Black and white skin print depicting faded top of hand

    (name undisclosed)

    BIPOC - mixed race and white presenting, LGBTQ+, non-binary/gender nonconforming, disabled/chronically ill, neurodivergent
    Skin Print #306

    Story
  • Black and white skin print with grainy texture and few white speckles

    Zoey Wolf

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #352

    Story
  • Black and white skin print featuring small dots and lines throughout

    Celina Zisman

    Woman, LGBTQ+, mother
    Skin Print #167

    Story

The following individuals collaborated to create their own skin print but did not submit a story. Below each name you’ll find how they self-identify.

  • Black and white skin print depicting tiny black dots and long lines

    Anonymous

    BIPOC, woman, LGBTQ+, chronic pain, mental illness (depression, anxiety, ADHD, C-PTSD). Multidisciplinary artist.
    Skin Print #272

  • Black and white skin print featuring large white circles

    Simone Heim Anniesse

    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, neurodivergent
    Skin Print #356

  • Black and white skin print featuring scar striking through center

    SJ Salazar Aponte

    Non-binary, gender non-conforming, LGBTQ+, artist, actor, vocalist, and food garden advocate. Puerto Rican, multi racial.

    “I was adopted at birth. Within a week of adoption, I became ill and wouldn’t eat. This scar is from the surgery that saved my life, and a reminder of my fight to exist since the beginning!”
    Skin Print #316

  • Black and white skin print with white spots and lip-shaped pattern on left center

    Vanessa Atienza

    BIPOC, woman, 1st generation American, mentally ill, trauma survivor

    Vanessa Atienza is a first generation mixed Asian American woman who is in the process of understanding chronic and mental illness, generational trauma, and this life experience through practices of spirituality and art rooted in beauty and wellness.
    Skin Print #165

  • Black and white skin print blended into shade of grey with tiny black pinpoints

    Caddy Burns

    Woman, LGBTQ+, gender non-conforming, and Neurdivergent
    Skin Print #114

  • Black and white skin print depicting abdominal scar in center

    Emma Britain Caraway

    Disabled, genderqueer, scientist.

    Skin print is abdominal scar from the removal of from multiple hepatic adenomas.
    Skin Print #279

  • Black and white skin print featuring tiny white dots with lighter shade of white on bottom half

    Cat

    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid
    Skin Print # 303

  • Black and white skin print featuring tiny black dots in top right corner and white patch in center

    Hannah Freeman

    Woman, LGBTQ+, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, neurodivergent,
    Skin Print #136

  • Black and white skin print grainy white patch in center

    Lily Kuo Gonzales

    BIPOC, woman
    Skin Print #197

  • Black and white skin print with thin black lines and thin white circles

    Kimber Hageman

    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill
    Skin Print #308

  • Black and white skin print featuring small white bumps and thick black lines

    Mars G.

    Disabled, mentally ill, non-binary, LGBTQ+, POC
    Skin Print #332

  • Mostly black and white skin print with white streaks toward bottom

    Sydney Harkrider

    BIPOC, woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #268

  • Mostly black and white skin print featuring thin white circular shapes near center

    Xandria Hernandez

    BIPOC, a woman, LGBTQ+, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, plus-sized or “fat” woman
    Skin Print #312

  • Black and white skin print featuring black lines and bumps formed by skin in center

    Jennifer Himstedt

    POC, woman, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, burn survivor, has MS
    Skin Print #161

  • Mostly black and white skin print with large bumps and white spot in center

    Bria Jones

    BIPOC, woman, queer asexual, fat, mentally ill, baker
    Skin Print #355

  • Black and white skin print with larger white circles

    Chelsea Levin

    Woman, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, Ashkenazi Jewish descent
    Skin Print #331

  • Black and white skin print with large speckles and black shade in center

    Alex Maldonado

    BIPOC, woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #227

  • Black and white skin print featuring wrist close up with thin white lines

    Juan Martinez

    BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Mexican immigrant

    “There's a scar on my left wrist that reminds me of the time I stopped loving myself. Nowadays, the scar is hidden under a rose tattoo which reminds me that with love and care, everything blooms once again.”
    Skin Print #182

  • Fuzzy black and white skin print with faded star shape near center

    Madeline Maske

    Woman, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent
    Skin Print #251

  • Black and white skin print featuring sharp black shapes and tiny white speckles

    Elaine McMurray

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Prints #284

  • Black and white skin print featuring white bumps and large white center

    Paloma Michel

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #133

  • Black and white skin print with grainy texture and black shade ascending from bottom center

    Annamarie Miller-Espinosa

    Woman, LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, neurodivergent, artist
    Skin Print # 173

  • Black and white skin print with small white bumps and grainy texture

    Nhu Nguyen

    Vietnamese immigrant, woman, LGTBQ+

    “The print is from an L shaped birthmark on my right side. I grew up with my cousin swearing that it was a result of my mother slicing me with her finger ring when she held me as a newborn.”
    Skin Print #327

  • Black and white skin print featuring fine black lines and large black areas

    Chris Robertson

    Non-binary, massage therapist, performer
    Skin Print #199

  • Black and white skin print with thick bumps formed by skin

    Samantha Roux

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #290

  • Black and white skin print blurred together to form shade of grey with large black circles

    Tera Shea

    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, neurodivergent
    Skin Print #126

  • Black and white skin print with tiny white speckles

    Claire Shelton

    Woman, LGBTQ+, chronically ill, mentally ill, neurodivergent, writer, editor
    Skin Print #131

  • Black and white skin print featuring larger white circles and black streak descending from top center

    Olivia Speed

    Woman, LGBTQ+
    Skin Print #163

  • Black and white skin print with thin white circles resembling freckles

    Marlo Swagemeier

    (they/them)
    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, disabled, mentally ill.

    ”I’m a redhead with freckles covering my entire body and as a kid they used to make me feel different and weird. Now I love them they are one of the few parts of my body that have never been linked to my gender. Even when my dysphoria is at my worst my freckles make me feel pretty.”
    Skin Print #146

  • Black and white skin print blurred into grey with black crack striking from left

    Yvette Stickell

    Woman, mother, caregiver
    Skin Print #119

  • Black and white skin print depicting large white circles

    Beau Toxic

    LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, disabled, chronically ill, mentally ill, neurodivergent, punk tomboy, uninhibited drag king/performer, empath, sculptor, mold maker, welder, videographer, photographer, compassionate nature & animal lover

    “Love, let live & thrive for the benefit of all, not one.”
    Skin Print # 363

  • Black and white skin print with blurry texture and tiny white speckles

    Wendy Yamilett

    BIPOC, woman, LGBTQ+, non-binary, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, gender fluid, born in Austin.

    ”Both of my parents are immigrants and moved here in the 80s. I'm a queer, latinx person. My pronouns are she/they. I am also a visual artist (painting/drawing).”
    Skin Print #207