LAY WITH ME, 2019: I will install a hospital bed in an open space. During the performance, my caregiver will perform a live transfer – removing my body from my wheelchair and laying me to rest in the hospital bed. A soundtrack of night sounds and whispered thoughts and fears belonging to myself and others living with disability will play as individuals are encouraged to lay with me for a moment. The level of engagement is completely up to the participant(s). It is hoped that the viewer will join me in the bed and share a moment while connecting via form and sound piece and realize we have more in common than not.

About the artist: Jessica Elaine Blinkhorn is a visual artist and performance artist based out of Atlanta, GA. She is an instructor in the Fine Arts for Georgia State University and Perimeter Colleges and Callanwolde Fine Arts Center. She has performed throughout Atlanta, in Chicago’s Rapid Pulse Performance Festival, the Inverse Performance Festival in Fayetteville, AR, Art in Odd Places, New York, NY, and, most recently, Bubbly Creek Performance Festival in the suburb of Bridgeport in Chicago, IL. Her work has been hailed “abrasively insightful,” “an educational exploration,” and “satirical sadism.”