Uncanny Valley

nervetowrite
Mar 14
1 min read

Updated: Mar 21

by Jessamyn Smyth

A frontal black and white x-ray of the artist’s spinal hardware and the trunk of her body is interrupted by the figure of a manikin with disjointed limbs, articulate and beautiful hands, and a pensive expression that seems to be gazing into the cage of the pelvis and screws. From the front, the hardware looks like seahorses. — *Digital hybrid: X-ray and digital photograph hand-painted with nail polish and ink*

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.