Jace Meister
Jace Sitting on Bollard in Park, Collaborative Portrait
Jace sits in between two cement bollards in the park. They’re wearing a baseball cap, button down short sleeved shirt layered atop of another shirt, shorts and sneakers.
Jace Meister (they/he) is a disabled transsexual poet & collage artist living in Des Moines, IA.
Instagram: @perfect.worm
Pacing
Through Pacing, I document my life as a queer & trans human with an energy-limiting dynamic disability called Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also known as ME), which often renders me homebound. I have to be strategic about how I use my energy or face the consequences of debilitating crashes, which can impact my long-term baseline of functioning. These photographs are taken either within my home or neighborhood, representing the way that adjusting to a disabled existence has shrunken my world. This is due both to the nature of ME & the lack of truly inclusive community spaces where accessibility is considered, with precautions taken to limit the transmission of infection. It is particularly heartbreaking to see this in many queer & “radical” spaces, knowing that LGBTQ+ folks are far more likely to experience Long Covid symptoms, disability, & systemic barriers to healthcare.
All of my photographs are taken with 35mm black & white film. I invite color & texture through digital collage in the form of an iridescent cellophane material, which has been manipulated & scanned. This element of the pictures represents my queer/trans desire & joy. My queerness has saved my life. It allows me to creatively consider the ways I can dream up & build an expansive, subversive life full of connection & pleasure that works for my chronically ill body, outside of any normative societal script.
With Pacing, I hope to be in conversation with creative work made by other queer individuals with disabilities, & to bring additional awareness to underfunded, incurable, misunderstood diseases such as ME. Pacing resists linear time & capitalist grind culture, where productivity & output equal worth. Pacing claims space, centering my individual queer transsexual disabled experience, highlighting moments of stillness & beauty & joy. It takes its time doing so. I invite you to move slowly through the photos.
DISCO HALL
In black & white, many dots of light reflected off of a disco ball (out of frame) cover a wall where two framed art prints rest on a built-in wooden ledge.
NO REST (VIEW FROM BED)
In black & white, through a window we see the roof of the house next door, along with a chimney, satellite dish, & some trees in the distance. Iridescent crinkled cellophane in shades of green/blue/gold has been digitally collaged around the window, covering the rest of the frame. The words NO REST are placed around the top left corner of the window.
I PAUSE AT THE WINDOW
In black & white, a dried stem of berries rests on the wooden ledge between window panes as light pours in. The window glass is smudged & streaked. On the right edge of the frame sits a glass bottle filled with water & a plant cutting with gnarled roots.
SELF PORTRAIT, MIRROR
In black & white, a white transmasculine non-binary person is reflected in the bathroom mirror. They have strong eyebrows & a thick mustache. He is wearing a black tank top & leaning their head against their raised tattooed arm with a subtle smile, exposing a hairy armpit. A window is also in the mirrored portrait, its view reflected in the glass shower door. Gold/green cellophane covers the rest of the image beyond the mirror’s frame, except for the light switch, becoming the wall.
NOT YET
In black & white, a closeup of a peony yet to bloom is in focus at the center of the frame. Individual petals are beginning to pull away from the tight bud & there is a sense that it could unfurl at any moment. The background of the image is filled with leaves, with lots of dark negative space to the right of the flower.
CLUB JACE
In black & white, a disco ball (with one reflective square hanging loose) sits on the wood floor at the center of the frame, with a partially visible figure leaning in toward it. We can see the person’s mustache, mouth, & chin, as well as their tattooed arms. The rest of their body disappears, but reflects the light from the disco ball. Iridescent cellophane covers the top right corner of the image, inviting shades of green & gold.
HER SHOULDER
In black & white, a closeup of a white woman’s shoulder as she lays sleeping. Her skin is dotted with freckles, thin hairs, a faint scratch. The rest of the image is darker, but the wrinkles of the bedsheet are visible in the background. The same iridescent cellophane material is used to create a thin border around the photograph.
BE INTERESTED IN OTHERS
In black & white, most of the frame is filled with foliage of black locust shrubs & trees. Each long leaf is made up of many small oval leaflets. The light is dappled & shadows from the lower hanging leaves contrast the sun-filled asphalt. Text from a sign that reads “BE INTERESTED IN OTHERS” has been digitally collaged over this image with each word isolated so that the phrase is read vertically down the page.
LOVE ON A PARK BENCH
In black & white, a white trans woman with dark hair & bangs sits on a park bench looking at the camera with a wide closed-mouth smile. She wears a t-shirt & has a tattoo of a hand on her arm. Behind her is grass & a sky of crinkled iridescent cellophane in shades of pink & gold.
OUTSIDE OF MYSELF (VIEW FROM BED)
In black & white, an unmade bed/pile of blankets (& a barely visible cat in the bottom left corner!) in the foreground. Beyond it is a window with the curtain pulled up & to the side. Digitally collaged in the window is a person wearing a baseball cap & a t-shirt that reads TRANS FAG, their face obscured by the camera they’re holding, with an iridescent cellophane background.
SELF PORTRAIT, LEAVES
In black & white, a white transmasculine person with a buzzcut looks directly into the camera & leans over a disco ball in front of his chest. This image is digitally collaged on top of an image of black locust leaves, many of which are touched by the sunlight, casting shadows on the branches & leaves beneath. The low-opacity of the portrait gives the illusion & energy of a double exposure. .
WHAT A TIME TO BE GAY AND ALIVE
In black & white, a figure with a large blooming peony for a head is in the center of the frame. They are shirtless & wearing a chain with their right hand reaching across the body to touch his left shoulder, while his left hand makes a fist their face rests against. The background is divided & digitally collaged; on top, an enlarged bumper sticker that reads WHAT A TIME TO / BE GAY AND ALIVE & beneath is a duplicated image of a disco ball in various sizes layered with iridescent cellophane made translucent, giving the disco balls a slight multicolored tint.
