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All of me/Disability Joy

Many silhouettes of Jessica in all her splendor. Dancing in her disability joy, where her body pleases her!  The snow globeness of the bubble projecting her essence. Her disability is part of who she is and don’t you dare think less of her because of the way her body is.  When Jessica gives a talk, she invites people to notice that she speaks and moves differently. Then she says, “If you thought, even for one moment, that I was less intelligent – let that thought go.  Then notice my  brilliance!”  She will remind the audience that the height of the eugenics movement, Ugly Laws and regular institutionalization of people with disabilities are all a part of our nation’s recent past.

We need to take a stand in our minds against the ableism that we have inherited, that is baked into this country’s legal, medical and educational systems as well as the economy.

Soundtrack: Perfect Strangers Theme Song or Body was Made

N.B.: These descriptions were developed from a series of conversations between artist Jessica Skintges Wallach and comedian Lamont Price, The People’s heART’s docent.  Sometimes they choose to write these descriptions in one voice and sometimes they choose to highlight their individual thoughts.  These pieces are a conversation started and they both are very interested in what you see in them and what they make you think about. Please leave comments below.

Jessica Skintges Wallach, All of me/Disability Joy, 2022. Digital Photograph. ©Jessica Wallach. All rights reserved.

Jessica Skintges Wallach

artist website

@thebodyisgood

Jessica Skintges Wallach is a Washington, DC based photographer, educator and accessibility consultant. She is an artist with a disability and a disabled artist. As an established portrait photographer, she is making her debut in the fine art scene. She once hid behind her camera and its shutter speed, she now highlights her cerebral palsy using those same instruments. In her project, The Body is Good, she reimagines healthcare spaces as a love letter to the body.

Jessica believes that the art on the halls and walls of healthcare spaces matter. It can provide a respite, induce fright, or go unseen. She aims to empower her viewers. Her photos keep patients company while they wait. They whisper that fundamentally, on a molecular level, the body is good. Her work stands as a constant reminder to staff that their bodies matter as much as the work they are doing. Jessica’s art is for anyone with a body.

Using her Canon camera and Samsung phone as a canvas, she modifies the edges of her lens with stencils to answer the question “what fills us up and how do we move?” The stencils depict the subjects’ profiles, actions, and mobility devices as well as accessibility symbols. She began by employing the designs of other artists and now constructs her own stencils. Along with overlaying the stencils with everyday objects, she superimposes the stencils on to large, colorful soap bubbles

Her work offers a bold statement about the impacts of ableism and how it affects us all whether we are disabled or not. Mostly, her photographs ask us to consider what would a love letter to your body be; if healthcare spaces were such a love letter, could we change health equity outcomes?

The Body Is Good

The Body Is Good is a collection of photographs by Jessica Wallach centered around the theme of accessibility and inclusion of individuals with disabilities. Her work uses hand cut stencils, light, and everyday objects to remind viewers of the importance of viewing the world through a lens on inclusion.

This collection is the result of generous donations from The Center for Visual Arts in Healthcare at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Other work from The Body Is Good