prints of people who are scared by life changing events (cancer, accidents & amputations) from the series Scar Art
“Lost Finger Due to Band Saw Accident”, 7”x 7” Gouache, Color Pencil
Biography of Ted Meyer
“Children show scars like medals. Lovers use them as secrets to reveal. A scar is what happens when the world is made flesh.”
-Leonard Cohen
One of the primary roles of a visual artist is to help us re-see the world in different ways, and by doing so, question our own beliefs and definitions of the world we inhabit. Ted Meyer accomplishes this with the startlingly beautiful scar prints that he has created. These are singular images that capture a multitude of meanings simultaneously. When reading the titles of his pieces and interpreting the linear lexicon of injury or illness and subsequent scarring, we are immediately hit with a reflexively visceral reaction to the pain and trauma that spreads across the paper. At the same time, these are works that radiate an intriguing energy, and draw the viewer in. We may think of scars as unpleasant, something to be glanced at from a distance, avoiding close inspection. These images succeed in compelling people to do the opposite: viewers are drawn in closer, wanting to observe the qualities of line, discover the minute clues into “what happened” and understand how these eloquent lines relate to the human body. In spending time exploring the visual terrain of each scar print taking in the colors, line qualities and energy of each image the viewer has little choice but to imagine a corresponding story, linking the imprint to a real person and a real event. Almost reflexively, empathy is born, and along with it the unflinching realization that we are all vulnerable, and that this scar could just as easily be ours. Ultimately the scar prints that Ted Meyer has created for this collection speak to life, adaptation and healing. The prints suffuse painful images with an honest yet beautiful artistic sensibility. They meander across the page, glowing with color and organic line. Like life, they can be all at once lovely, sad, frightening, angry, strong and brave. They are symbols of humanity. Symbols of living life the best we can, no matter what challenges come our way.
In Ted’s words… “Scars mark a turning point in peoples’ lives; sometimes for good but often otherwise. Each scar comes with a story. Why is it there? Would the person have died without surgery? How did the “scarring event” affect them emotionally? Scars can mark entering into or out of a disability. Going from cancer to health, limited mobility to full movement. Scars freeze a moment in time, a car accident or gun shot wound. These mono-prints, taken directly off the skin of my model/subjects are portraits of the events that changed their lives. I accentuate the details of the scar with gouache and color pencil. My hope is to turn these lasting monuments, often thought of as unsightly, into things of beauty.”
“ Liver Transplant Scar” 2005, 14” x 18” ink, gouache, graphite and color pencil
“My abdominal scar is a badge of honor. The symbolism represents life and cutting-edge medical technology but most of all a struggle for all HIV/HEP C co-infected people everywhere. My life changed on January 5, 2003. I was the first person to receive a healthy solid organ liver transplant within the University of California study. Prior to that date, it was nearly impossible to receive an organ transplant for HIV+ individuals in the US. The UC San Francisco study, headed by a forward thinking transplant team, fought for the ability to use healthy livers for HIV infected individuals. With the advent of new immunosuppressant drugs now prolonging life, having HIV no longer signals a death sentence. Their fight culminated with me, and my scar is proof that I am a healthy living human being.”
“Back Scar T-12, L-1 Complete” Ink, gouache, graphite and color pencil 19” x 8” 2001
“Every so often a life can be changed by meeting one person. For me that person unexpectedly arrived at one of my art openings in 1999. It was a very Los Angeles kind of affair. I was in a lightweight conversation with celebrity guests, Henry (The Fonz) Winkler and Candice Bergen, when she rolled into the gallery a beautiful woman whose grace only enhanced by her wheelchair. She wore a stunning black dress with a low back. I couldn’t help but notice the long scar that decorated her back. Over time we had many conversation about our situations. She had fallen from a tree onto her back while a counselor at a summer camp. Still, she performed with a noted dance company and has had many roles on television and on stage.”
“Three Operations Resulting from Complications of a Car Crash” Ink, gouache, graphite, color pencil 11” x 5” 2006
"I don’t remember the accident ...a good thing, as I don’t need a vivid recollection of a bus sliding towards my side of the car, folding the driver’s seat and me, as the driver in half. I woke up once in the ambulance, with famous-in-Houston medical/TV personality Dr. Red Duke leaning over me. ‘You’re a very lucky young lady,’ he said through his handlebar mustache in his heavy, Texas drawl. Then I passed out. I woke up in the hospital not able to sit up. The center of my body was bandaged completely, and I was woozy from heavy pain medication. The next thing I remember vividly is my mother lecturing the doctor. ‘You put this huge scar on my daughter!’ ‘I’m sorry, ma’am,’ he responded, sulking, ‘I was just trying to save her life.’
Apparently I’d died at some point in this journey, either in the ambulance, on the way over or upon arrival. They’d done emergency surgery to fix all of my internal injuries. My first scar was beautiful, a thin line tracing down my belly and around my belly button. About six months later, as is common for large incision surgeries, air had been trapped inside my abdomen, and fostered infection.
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