YOU ARE A SICK PERSON
Gallery Hours 11:30-1pm 4/7 & 4/8
Zoom Link: https://sjsu.zoom.us/j/82449076307?pwd=eVJyaGE2aXVIVWNkVkZUOXBnSS9rUT09 Password: 401820
Opening 4/8 6-8pm
Presentation 4/13 10:35-11:50
https://sjsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrc-GppjwqE9FeE6UOB22hF66xRLUAYjsj
YOU ARE A SICK PERSON
Katharine T. Jacobs
My relationship with my body significantly changed when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, a degenerative, incurable, chronic illness. A few years have passed and I have been through the stages of grief to mourn my past relationship with my body and have come to realize that my experience is not unique, it is simply innately human. Corporality is painful, traumatic and degenerative. Disability is inevitable for all of us in some form or another, yet societal expectations are utterly ableist.
This body of work allows me to process and be more proficient with my trauma, pain and illness. Although informed by what I’ve undergone personally, I feel that some part of the human experience can be mirrored in each piece. Through research of the psychological correlation between trauma and illness as well as the historical practice of doll making intended to transfer pain and manifest healing in many cultures I was inspired to create these vessels for my own healing process. As a mother I am supported by feminist theory and concepts of women’s work, gender roles and craft which solidified my choice of the doll rather than a more formal sculptural approach.
Each figure is comprised of a series of molds or patterns, a reference to the prototype of the human body that is susceptible to the elements throughout our lifetime. The multimedia construction of each piece speaks to the strengths and weakness that make us fragile yet whole. While text is visible it is elusive because these are not an attack on the viewer, they are a place for me to put negative thoughts so I am no longer encumbered by them, lifting the strain of the pervasive burden of our corporal existence ever so slightly.