Sabrina Epstein, for The Dignified Body Portrait Series:
A celebration of our diverse and assorted minds and bodies, which are ALL domains
for DIGNITY and RESPECT.

Whether it be differences in our mental, physical or emotional abilities and capacities, we each have our respective challenges and superpowers that are sometimes unseen and often misunderstood. This portrait series honors our differences and shares stories
with fierce compassion.

[Image description: amidst lush Calatheas, Sabrina sits smiling in a mustard yellow shirt and brown shorts, she’s resting on her left hand and in the upper left corner it says, “‘I want to live in a world of compassion and activism and art where I can bring my full self to the table.’ Sabrina Epstein”. The background is sage green.]

"I am challenged by making art with a disability. My disability's symptoms include chronic pain and fatigue. I have always loved to paint and make art. However, it is so difficult to manage art-making around variable symptoms. Some days my hands don't work but my mind is moving a million miles an hour, and other days my hands work but my brain is full of fog. Sometimes I paint through the pain and my hands ache for days. Other times, my body longs for creative action but my brain can't focus on anything but the pain. I can adapt at times--digital art is less pressure on my fragile joints, but it isn't the same as the messy, tactile joy of paints for me. Trying to be gentle on myself without losing my love for creating is a challenge that I continuously face.

'You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time' Angela Davis

I want to live in a world of compassion and activism and art where I can bring my full self to the table. I wish more people thought about disability. I wish people understood how to talk about health in a way that didn't demonize those of us who don't live in healthy bodies. I wish people understood how taxing living in pain can be and how beautiful it is to build community that understands you." @sabrina.epstein

The Dignified Body Portrait Series: Sabrina Epstein