The media bombards us with reminders of how repulsive we are and how we don’t meet up to their expectations.
Most people recognize Nikki Sixx as the bass player from 80s metal band Mötley Crüe. But, in addition to his musical successes, the musician is also a globally renowned photographer.
His New York Times bestseller, "This Is Gonna Hurt: Music, Photography, and Life Through the Distorted Lens of Nikki Sixx" includes provocative works that allow us to literally “see” his thoughts on our society’s distorted view of beauty. His pieces touch on all sorts of society’s “misfits”, from the homeless to the disabled. In this two-part mini-series, I will analyze some of Sixx’s works and interview fellow Sun Devils who have experienced the adversities he portrays.
"Amy in Wonderland." Photo Courtesy of AmyPurdy.com.The photograph “Amy in Wonderland” (right) displays an ethereal, angelic, young woman dressed in white neo-Renaissance garb with her hair tied up in marvelous horns floating off the ground. She is an amputee, and instead of having your standard human leg-like prosthetics, her artificial legs are made of chainmail and pointed like spears at the ends. The subject is Amy Purdy, who had her legs amputated at 19 years old due to a disease called Neisseria meningitis. Despite her disability, she became a snowboarding champion, actress, and model.
Sixx portrays Purdy as an otherwordly beauty because her achievements are indeed extraordinary. Instead of her amputated legs hindering her, they have been replaced by sharp metal blades, weapons symbolic of strength. The fact that Purdy has no legs makes her accomplishments that much more remarkable.
Many of our fellow Sun Devils have achieved incredible things despite their adversities. For instance, the president of ASU’s Power Soccer Club, Gabe Trujillo has battled through adversity. According to his website, Trujillo was diagnosed with Hopkins Syndrome, a rare form of polio that left him quadraplegic. His diagnosis is the only case in the world where a person’s four limbs are paralyzed. But, he went on to graduate Magna Cum Laude from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism in 2006 and currently works in the marketing department of an online high school.
Trujillo offered advice to Sun Devil Nation:
“We are all faced with adversity in our lives and it seems like the mountains in front of us are sometimes insurmountable," he says. "But I believe that a person's strength isn't determined by their physical capacity, it is built on a foundation of their indomitable will. As long as you have the will to succeed and overcome adversity, no matter what form it comes in, true failure will never be found.”
Purdy and Trujillo are living testaments to the fact that we are far more than our bodies and that we don’t have to live according to other people’s expectations.
To be continued...
To view some of my artwork, feel free to visit mabmeddowsmercury.deviantart.com. You can also tweet me at @DamianoAlec or email me at Alec.Damiano@asu.edu.
