Jessica Marshall

“I used art as a coping mechanism throughout my teenage years and realized that I really loved it, and was passionate and dedicated enough to try to make a career out of it,” begins self-taught Canadian glitch artist Jessica Marshall. Using a mixture of photography, videography, animation, and data bending, her digital artwork personifies her worldview. Often, she partners with music makers to create content such as music videos. “I listen to their music and lyrics to determine what exactly they’re trying to show the world, and what aesthetic matches them, before creating something that I think can match it.” Other times, she makes work expressing how her disability gives her a unique perspective on the world. “It’s so frustrating to have your body not be able to keep up with your mind. To have the work ethic and hunger to create but to be betrayed by your own limbs. My work represents the way I view the malfunctions and glitches in the world, seeing things blurred and shaky as my own body can’t interpret the incredible intricacy that surrounds it.” Currently a student, she does freelance work around the city of Montreal and online. As a primarily self-taught artist, one of her biggest struggles is legitimating her own work, both for herself and others.  At times, she also finds her disability can be a hindrance to making art, and moving forward she intends to incorporate this struggle into her creative expression. One of her goals is to raise awareness about disability in young people. Currently, she’s working on translating her talent for small gifs and animations into longer videos, working with local bands to create lyric videos and make glitch art in longer formats. One day she plans to also make a series of still images, gifs, and longer videos featuring her own body, in addition to collaborating with other disabled youth.

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