This Embodied Condition

nervetowrite
Mar 14
1 min read

Updated: Mar 21

by Jessamyn Smyth

A layered, hand-painted digital art portrait of the artist lying down, unable to walk, with layers of blood-filled medical tubing from her infusions apparently entangling her. A vast skeleton’s hand seems to rest on her shoulder, as though comforting her. She gazes at the viewer with an inscrutable expression. — *Digital hybrid: layered and hand-painted photographs - clear lacquer and chrome nail polish*

A smiling white woman with brown hair and eyes sits on a garden bench looking at the camera. She is wearing a green tunic, a brown faux-leather jacket, and tall boots. She holds her book The Inugami Mochi in her hands. Photograph by Rebecca Aldous of the Squamish Chief newspaper.

Jessamyn Smyth's poetry and prose have appeared in many journals and anthologies, and her books The Inugami Mochi (2016) and Gilgamesh/Wilderness (2021) are from Saddle Road Press. Skaha, Kitsune, and Koan Garden are available on her website: jessamynsmyth.net. Jessamyn was founding Editor in Chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and Founder/Director of Quest Writer's Conference. She has a deep interest in representations of disability and embodiment, and her mixed media visual art has become a life-thread.