ted meyer - Biography

Ted Meyer is an internationally recognized artist, curator, writer, and patient advocate who helps people with illness, students, and medical professionals find meaning and resilience in the face of adversity. His decades-long visual art project, Scarred for Life: Monoprints of Human Scars, chronicles the trauma, healing, and courage of individuals who have lived through accidents and health crises.

A lifelong survivor of Gaucher Disease—a rare enzyme deficiency that affects the bones and joints—Ted brings deep personal insight into the patient experience. His early work, influenced by years of pain and hospital stays, merged art with medical materials. Contorted, skeletal imagery reflected his prognosis that he would not survive past 30. Today, with the aid of new treatments and joint replacements, Ted now considers himself healthy, and his artistic focus has shifted outward, from autobiographical themes to curating and amplifying the stories of others living with illness, disfigurement, and disability.

As Artist-in-Residence at the Keck School of Medicine of USC since 2016, Ted curates exhibitions of artwork by patients whose illnesses align with the medical curriculum. These shows, which are revolutionizing the medical school humanities programs, feature artists living with MS, cancer, Parkinson’s, back pain, and more, and help medical students better understand the human experience of illness. He is also a Visiting Scholar at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, a graduate of the Aspen Leadership Seminars, and was the 2017 Sterling Visiting Professor at Stanford University. Ted has been granted both a California Creative Corps Grant and a CAC Individual Artist Fellowship, and was awarded the National Association of Practice’s 2024 Patient Advocacy Award. He has spoken on the main stages of both TEDMED and TEDx Anchorage.

Ted’s work seeks to improve physician-patient communication and promote empathy through storytelling. By sharing his own journey and the powerful stories behind the Scarred for Life series, he opens conversations about pain, disfigurement, survival, and what it means to live fully with chronic illness.

His art has been exhibited internationally in museums, hospitals, and galleries, and his work has been featured by NPR, The New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and USA Today. His visual presentations reveal how a life shaped by illness can also be a catalyst for creativity, compassion, and connection.

In addition to his visual work, Ted is a writer, illustrator, and filmmaker. His books include Shrink Yourself: The Complete Do-It-Yourself Book of Freudian Psychoanalysis, The Butt Hello – And Other Reasons My Cats Drive Me Crazy, Cats Around the World, Good Things You Can Learn from a Bad Relationship, and Scarred for Life. His award-winning documentary, King of Dinoland, tells the story of outsider artist Abe DeLacerda. Sheepdogs, a documentary of Ted’s work with military veterans, is currently in festival circuit. His newest book, The Room Sinatra Died In, and Other Medically Adjacent Stories, is now available on Amazon.