MOFSA is pleased to announce that the recipient of our first Spiritual Art Grant in the amount of $10,000 is Jennifer McCormick (www.subtextart.com) of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University Medical School in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, she pursued a career as a medical illustrator, including creating medically accurate illustrations that show what happens to a person involved in an accident. In 17 years of reading medical records, she gathered more than patient data – she repeatedly felt their shock at sudden injury. Jennifer keenly felt their frustration through the words in the progress notes. She began to notice that how a person thinks about their health either energizes them or degrades them. Such contemplation lead her to read books about the afterlife, consciousness and healing, concluding that there is more involved in the healing process than medical technology. In her own words:
I now believe that the best parts of all religion are the efforts we make to strengthen our oneness with each other and with THE divine energy. The light inside each being inspires me to make art, not only for my own curiosity, but also in the hope that the image will raise an audience’s awareness. This hope is why I have chosen to rework the x-rays, which literally show us inside the body, but I say, “look beyond the bones at what is inside”. Use your spirit to understand. It’s where my medical illustration ends and my spiritual examination begins.
As a fine artist, Jennifer works in mixed media, including paper, chalk, gouache and colored pencil. Her X-Ray Visions series incorporate x-rays into artwork, designed to refocus attention on the patient narrative, not their diagnosis. These pieces strive to inspire hope, acceptance, and healing.
Jennifer’s work and spiritual journey are a wonderful fit to the theme of our inaugural exhibit, “There Is Healing in a Story”. We are very excited to be awarding our grant to Jennifer McCormick. The grant will help her to continue her innovative work, including new art inspired by Marianne’s story.