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Just skin

A stencil of Jessica standing in profile with hands stretched out above her head as if she is in second position for ballet, feet wide, arms making a circle above her head. Here the stencil is placed over Jessica, her skin acting as the silhouette.

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.

Backstory: I got a Brother Scan and Cut to make stencils of my own body and asked my friend Alisha Lacy to take photos of me. One day I was sitting in a hotel room looking at my dry skn on my legs and was feeling old, then I decided it would make good photo

I always loved dancing, moving my body, keeping rhythm. I took dance classes from age 4 to 12. Put myself to sleep thinking of dancing, being tall as a dancer, I am short.

Lamont: Artist Jessica Wallach simply shows the world that she is present and is unafraid to be confident despite a society that thinks she should feel and act diminished by her disabilities. They are part of her and integral to her being, but do not in any way define her as a human being. She doesn’t need people to think for her or make decisions about her. She’s here. Full and present. People with disabilities don’t just need resources, they are a resource. As Jessica says: “They are good partners, collaborators, playmates, friends, leaders and yes lovers .” People with disabilities don’t need your pity. What they need, nay DEMAND, is your respect

Jessica Skintges Wallach, Just skin, 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