Just Skin & Bones

Throughout my life I have endured one hundred and ninety one broken bones, twenty-two surgeries and died twice due to complications during surgery. I have experienced both physical and mental pain due to my condition, Osteogenesis Imperfecta and because of the ways people have treated me. I am using my work to both help people become aware of these internal issues and to try and allow others to see life from my point of view.

Seeing someone with a physical handicap can be mutually uncomfortable for both the viewer and the subject. Not necessarily through rudeness but rather out of pure curiosity, others may stare at a person in a wheelchair or with a physical disability. These individuals don't realize the pain they cause by staring and making a person the object of their gaze.

Using both photographs and X-rays, I have created a full body self-portrait. My illustration conveys the narrative of my life through images of the broken bones that are the source my disfigurement. The X-rays speak of the pain in my past while the image of my skin speaks of me in the present. The titanium rods in my bones showing inner strength and ability to endure the pain. My eye looks out at the viewer and to the pain that is yet to come.

The tattoo on my right arm symbolizes my shattered bones with forty-eight ravens. Each raven represents 4 broken bones, my twenty-two surgeries are symbolized with plus signs, and my two deaths signified with feathers. Allowing the viewer to see my entire body down to the bone will remind them that we are all the same, just skin and bones.

-Mitchell Dunnam

Here are some photos from the show.