A student artist who lost the 6th turned her flabby skin into human leather – all in the name of a PhD.
Katie Taylor, from Oxford, shared how the “crazy” idea came naturally to her when she decided to have the cosmetic surgery last March.
The 52-year-old, who studies fine arts at Oxford Brookes University and uses “physical aspects” in her work, begged surgeons to let her keep the skin.
They agreed, with the promise that it would be picked up right after.
Katie Taylor, 52, a Fine Art PhD student at Oxford Brookes University, admits the idea may sound ‘crazy’ and ‘really weird’, but she says the idea came to her ‘naturally’
While Ms. Taylor was confined to the hospital recovering from the procedure, her friend was asked to pick up the 4 pounds of excess skin.
She cycled with the sheet in her front basket before putting it straight into Mrs. Taylor’s freezer, where it remained for nine months.
Mrs Taylor said: ‘The freezers weren’t that big, so it was right next to the frozen berries.’
After keeping it in her freezer, she contacted an expert with 30 years of experience in prehistoric “skin tanning.”
With her help, Mrs. Taylor was able to turn it into leather. The grim process involved soaking and stretching her skin before putting it in a clothes dryer.
The mother-of-two lost six stones after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she had her second child in 2004. To control her diabetes, she resorted to a keto diet and started lifting weights and lost the weight in the process
Ms. Taylor, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she had a second child in 2004, is not yet sure what she will do with her belly leather.
But it could be placed in an exhibition in the future.
She also sent her belly fat to a tattoo ink maker and is now thinking about getting a tattoo with the ink.
She said, “I thought I’d do something with the skin, but I don’t think I could cut into it right now.”
“I think I want it to stay in its shape because that’s how it was when it came off of me.”
Ms Taylor added: ‘It’s a reminder of where I came from, how I got to where I am today and how incredible and resilient the human body is.
‘I use materials that challenge what can and cannot be done in my art, and I definitely have a physical aspect to my work.
‘The idea of bodies and the circularity of human remains or decomposition is part of my PhD project – so this fitted in nicely with that.’
She said, “You can see my C-section scar, stretch marks, and even hair follicles on the leather that I love.”
“It records traces and signs of my life.”
The gritty process of turning her skin into leather involved soaking and stretching her skin before sticking it in a clothes dryer
To manage her diabetes, Ms. Taylor resorted to a keto diet and started lifting weights.
When she reached her happy weight in March 2022, she decided to have surgery to remove the loose skin around her abdomen.
But preserving body parts after surgery is not an easy process.
To preserve the skin, Ms. Taylor contacted her surgeon’s secretary and sent them a two-page letter explaining why she wanted to keep her excess skin.
She also had to consult the Human Tissue Act 2004 and gathered other examples of where people had withheld body parts, such as fat removed by liposuction.
The hospital agreed to return her skin after surgery under the condition that it be collected immediately after surgery.
Using every part of the excess skin, the artist also sent her belly fat, pictured above, to a tattoo ink maker and is thinking about getting a tattoo with the ink
Ms Taylor said: ‘My wonderful friend Catalina picked up the skin when she came back from work.
“She cycled back to my house with my skin in the front basket of her bicycle.
“I had already taken a draw out of the freezer, so she put it in right away.”
Initially, Mrs. Taylor wanted to make the leather at home and bought a tanning kit.
But in the end, she decided to contact some leather-making experts, including some survival courses, but she was rejected.
Until she came into contact with Theresa Emmerich Kamper, in Exeter, who has a PhD in experimental archeology and over 30 years of experience with prehistoric skin tanning.
Ms Taylor traveled to Exeter in January this year and stayed in a hotel near Theresa’s home for a week while they completed the process.
She said, ‘Theresa was absolutely amazing and so knowledgeable.
“We started by scraping the fat off the back and removing the membrane.
“We then soaked the hide in a vegetable tanning solution while stirring and checking every day.
“After it soaked, we stretched it a lot and oiled it before drying it in Theresa’s clothes dryer.”