Throughout my younger years, my body seemed to bend to my wishes. I was one of the lucky ones, eating whatever I liked and barely gaining an ounce. Never breaking bones, full of energy for whatever came my way. But as the years have passed, that body has changed. Harder work is required to keep my body in the kind of shape I need it to be. That ideal shape has evolved– no longer do I obsess over being model-skinny. I want to be strong. My body is not a clothes hanger, it is a work horse. I want it to take me up that mountain and show me things I can’t see from my sofa. I want it to be my ally, not my enemy.
New York figurative artist Jenny Morgan renders in paint self portraits and portraits of friends and family in which there seems a strong interconnection between the physical, psychological, and spiritual. Bodies are simply the vessels in which we move through this life. They can be a help or a hindrance but in the end, they are only a part of who we are. In my hands I see years of work and my mother’s genes. My legs have carried me on numerous hikes and adventures beside my husband. But those memories aren’t carried in this physical body alone. They reside in my heart, in my mind, in my spirit. And when this body no longer serves it’s purpose, I will carry them with me.
To see more of Jenny Morgan‘s work, please visit her website. If you’re in New York, mark you calendar for her upcoming show, All We Have is Now at Driscoll Babcock.
All images are via the artist’s website.
