aphantasia
gathered
Sept 19 [2024]
photography by
Jackson Schad is a visual artist living in Brooklyn NY. He was raised in Jupiter, Florida, attending Dreyfoos School of the Arts and went on to study fine arts and arts administration at the University of Kentucky. As a transgender man, Jackson moved into community organizing and focused on building LGBTQ spaces and events in central Kentucky. Among his contributions is Queerslang, a music and arts festival which he founded in 2011. He moved to Brooklyn in 2015.
In the fall of 2019, while working at a major tech company, he started working on large-scale drawings as a meditative practice. In 2021, he discovered he has aphantasia and began identifying as an aphantasic artist.
"Aphanstasia is the absence of a 'mind’s eye' - meaning, I do not have visual imagination like most people do. This characteristic, like gender, is on a scale and most individuals are on the higher end, while I am at zero. When I reflect on the bodily application of my art, it makes sense to me."
Aphantasia refers to the condition in which individuals do not have visual thoughts connected to words or ideas. When looking at Jackson’s mesmerizing, even dreamy and abstract inkscapes, one would think just the opposite is true.
However, these works did not arise from a memory or vision. In fact Jackson taps into a mechanical process through movements and conversations with his body to find expression. The work can be seen as a translation of his external environment, as opposed to internal imagery.
This show highlights Jackson’s attention to detail and commitment to exploring a single material and media. From cascading waves of controlled line work, to the numerous textures and shapes happily growing together into beings, each piece has a unique life of its own. They have an almost graphic digital quality yet are completely hand drawn without guides or rulers. Reminiscing of the boldness of graffiti and street art at times the work pays tribute to scenes in Jackson’s immediate environment; his studio apartment, building and neighborhood of Crown Heights.
