The first female photographer featured on the Art of Love. She describes her work as sensual and spiritual. Remarkable is the different approach of the nude female body. Most male artists seem to focus more on the typical female aspects of the body and are more explicit in their work.
The first work I encountered of Jaeda DeWalt was one of her self-portraits with mannequin figures. The plastic look of the figures is softened by the usage of light and shades of grey. In this black & white photo the human body is almost equal to the mannequins surrounding it. It’s the same with the pose of Jaeda, it makes the human and plastic body’s blend together as a group of equals.
The main difference is the anonymity of the mannequins and the individuality of the central character. You could say that she reveals her individuality this way. Does she express her sexuality as a female here as well? In a way there is a sexual aspect in this picture. The nakedness, the sensual lines of the body’s against each other, even if most of them are not for real. But on the opposite there is the non-interaction and the static poses. This duality makes this image intriguing to me.
What I also experience in her work is what’s best to describe as visual silence. It is one of the things that gives the work of Jeada DeWalt the serene intrinsic beauty. The images in this gallery are almost all self-portraits of the artist. She describes it as a way of seeking answers to who she is and what se will become, a personal journey we can witness.
The Artist statement:
The body is perhaps the most beautiful canvas of expression. The camera can provide a location of where we’re at on this road map of life. Nudity in itself is not sexual, but rather, it is sensual. I feel sensuality is a state of mind that walks hand in hand with spirituality. In my photography I seek to express the sensual and spiritual in all of its magnificent colors, textures and feelings, as well as exposing the darkness that lingers within us all.
