For those who are unaware, vitiligo is a rare condition that causes blotchy skin due to loss of pigmentation. At the age of 12, Ashley Soto from Orlando, Florida was diagnosed with vitiligo and within a year it started spreading. Since then, she has endured endless bullying for how she looked.

Remembering how people used to taunt her and call names, Soto mentioned,

I’ve been called cow, I even was once told I had Michael Jackson syndrome. How can an innocent girl trying to find herself take that? When life gives you lemons what do you do? Make the best of it. No, I wasn’t born with it, I grew into it which was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. But now I look back and I’m happy that I went through it because I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today.

But now the 21-year-old has embraced her skin condition and even turned it into an incredible body art, breaking all beauty stereotypes. She began with setting herself daily challenges such as walking in public without a long sleeve shirt – no matter how people react.

Eventually, her challenges led to turning her vitiligo skin into beautiful body art. Using her body as a canvas, she traces her vitiligo and even paints it to create stunning works of art. Her amazing body art is a part of her project called “The Marker Chronicles.” The themes of her body art keep changing from ‘The World Map’ to ‘Van Gogh’s Starry Night.’

With her beautiful body artworks, she wants to spread the message of self-love to the world and inspire people to accept themselves for who they are. Sometimes what others perceive as imperfection can become your strength, provided you accept it with confidence.

Taking ownership of her body, Soto keeps sharing the photos of her unique body art on Instagram to inspire people to be comfortable in their own skin.

Via: Buzzfeed