Week 4 Post
Something that interests me is the ways that art has historically and currently been called upon to fill a need that medical technology is not yet equipped to handle. The new military technologies that emerged during World War 1 were devastating, with many soldiers that survived the war ending up horribly disfigured by machine guns and shrapnel. Since plastic surgery was still in its infancy, they had the ability to keep these men alive and maybe restore some functionality to their faces, but the psychological effects of having lost ones' face in the war needed to be addressed.
One man pictured before and after donning his facial mask. (Source: Anna Coleman Ladd papers, Archives of American Art, S.I.)
To address this need, the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department was born. Francis Derwent Wood, the program's founder, said:
"I endeavour by means of the skill I happen to possess as a sculptor to make a man's face as near as possible to what it looked like before he was wounded, ... My cases are generally extreme cases that plastic surgery has, perforce, had to abandon; but, as in plastic surgery, the psychological effect is the same. The patient acquires his old self-respect, self assurance, self-reliance,...takes once more to a pride in his personal appearance. His presence is no longer a source of melancholy to himself nor of sadness to his relatives and friends." (Alexander)
A workshop where many of these lifelike masks were made. (Source: Anna Coleman Ladd papers, Archives of American Art, S.I.)
While plastic surgery has progressed significantly since then, there are still some places where artists help to shore up their work. FTM Bilateral Mastectomy, commonly referred to in the transgender community as "top surgery," is a gender affirming procedure where the breasts are removed and a more masculine chest is constructed with plastic surgery. Unfortunately, since in order to preserve original tissue a free nipple graft must be performed, there are many ways that the nipples can heal weirdly (or not heal at all) and end up being a big source of discomfort for the patient. Tattoo artists like Tanya Burton have started offering realistic nipple tattoos that help make a grafted nipple look more typical or just create the illusion of a nipple on a person who chose not to have theirs grafted (Ohene).
While medical technology is incredible, I'm glad artists can step in to help people when our surgical techniques aren't as miraculous as we'd like them to be.
Sources:
Alexander, Caroline. “Faces of War.” Smithsonian Institution, 1 Feb. 2007, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/faces-of-war-145799854/.
Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations, vol. 19, pp. 73-99. 2011.
Ingher, Donald E. "The Architecture of Life." Scientific American, Jan. 1998, pp. 48- 57.
Ohene, Almaz. “This Tattoo Artist Designs Realistic Nipples for Trans People.” VICE, 12 Sept. 2022, https://www.vice.com/en/article/g5vj83/nipple-tattoos-for-trans-people.
"Post Top Surgery 3D Nipple Tattoing." Gender Confirmation Center. https://www.genderconfirmation.com/ftm-top-surgery-nipple-tattooing/
Tyson, Peter. “The Hippocratic Oath Today.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 27 Mar. 2001, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/.
Hi Hearth! This was a very insightful and informative post! I liked how you brought up the history of plastic surgery and explained why it was an important movement in the medical field. I really enjoyed reading your section about the bilateral mastectomy and how these patients will look for a tattoo artist after the surgery to help with their nipples. I have seen these tattoos on people who have had to have their breast removed because of cancer and the detail is incredible it genuinely looks real. Great post!
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