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Sustained by water

A photo of the neurodivergent symbol. This symbol is the profile of a person highlighting the brain. Inside the brain is moving water with small bubbles.

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: We need to respect each person and the environment in order to get out of this moment in time with as many people as possible. 

Lamont: Sustainability and accessibility go hand in hand. Water sustains us and the relationship between the environment and our bodies. Water has a calming effect. It comforts us and helps us think about our place in the world. The similarities between the environment and our bodies are striking. As is the way we respect each. Which is to say we don’t. We pollute the world in the same way we pollute our bodies. It’s extremely difficult to have an appreciation for our fellow person when we lack such for ourselves. If we were able to see ourselves as valuable then maybe we can see the strength in diversity. Helping one another through working on ourselves. It’s imperative that we all contribute as it’s truly the best way to progress. The neurodiversity brain symbol encapsulates the need for more thought, more perspectives on how each person’s body is useful.

Jessica Skintges Wallach, Sustained by water, 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?

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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