Presented at the Wading Room Gallery in New Orleans, Louisiana
Image & video documentation by Wesley Leffingwell
Exhibitions
2023: As Per Formed, CU Denver Experience Gallery, Denver, CO
About
Stemming from traditions of Catholicism, the veneration of Saints, & pagan rituals of community care, Sacred Bodymind is a performative retelling of the figural & literal “sick bodymind.” In opposition to those who believe illness causes a poor quality of life, Sacred Bodymind venerates & celebrates my sick bodymind to the pinnacle of Olympian sainthood. Instead of adorning relics, temples, or altars with precious gems, participants are asked to adorn my sick bodymind with plastic, stick-on jewels in a hospital room setting. Inviting participants to embellish my bodymind asks them to consider the “sick bodymind” as divine & valuable, “care” as a collective & time-consuming endeavor, & question the historical exclusion of sick/(dis)abled people from the public sphere.