A Comfortable Prison (2022)

Image description: A white woman with short, brown hair, is shown lying in bed, her head on a colorful pillow. She is wearing an orange jumpsuit, akin to the ones worn in prison. There is a plain white shirt layered underneath. She has green eyes, with prominent eye bags, and a flushed face. There is a gloomy expression on her face as she looks to the left. We can see a patterned blanket, and on the textured blue green wall, there are drawn tally marks, 18.

“I want to stay in bed all day like she does, she’s so lucky.”

This is something I heard frequently in high school, when I first became disabled, and I still hear my peers whisper it around now that I'm in college. Out of frustration and exhaustion, I made this self portrait. My disability makes me feel imprisoned in my own body, I have so little control over any of it. I lose count of how many hours pass when I can't leave my bed, or what time of day it is. Being tired is not fatigue, being sore is not excruciating pain, and being glued to a bed for over 12 hours is definitely not lucky.

About the Creator

Grace Sirman

My name is Grace (she/her), and I'm a junior studying at the Stamps School of Art and Design. I'm a Mexican girl from Texas who loves to incorporate both my Mexican and my disabled identities in my artwork. I primarily illustrate digitally, but still create traditional work with colored pencils and gouache. I hope to become a visual development artist post graduation.

Image description: Grace is a young white woman with short brown hair, bleached eyebrows, and green eyes. She is wearing makeup, and is wearing a pink dress, only the straps are visible. She is smiling slightly at the camera.