Latency by Megan Bent

Issue 148

As I move through space I am perceived as “healthy” but inside of my body, my immune system mistakes my tendons, ligaments, joints, and organs as invaders, actively working to break them down. While mostly invisible, illness has greatly shaped who I am as a person and is an experience from which I draw a lot of knowledge and power.

Through chlorophyll printing, which uses UV light to print photographic images directly onto leaves, I am questioning how illness/disability is represented in society. I am interested in the disconnect in the way disability is most often understood as a purely negative experience and the way the fragility of nature is seen with a lens of reverence.

I am printing imagery from my recurring visits to doctors, the disability community and disability culture, highlighting what is invisible about our experience. Printing representations of disability onto leaves highlights the organic nature of disability, reframing it as a part of human diversity. The fact that chlorophyll prints are impermanent, and will continue to decay over time, asks the viewer to confront the bodily impermanence we all share.

This project has been ongoing since 2018.

Megan Bent (she/her) lives on unceded Tunxis, Sicaog, Wangunks, and Wappinger land (West Hartford, CT)
www.meganbent.com | @m_e_g_g_i_e_b

Megan (Self-Portrait), 2018, Chlorophyll print on copperleaf
Image Description: A self-portrait printed into the green chlorophyll of a copper leaf on a black background. The leaf is shaped like an elongated oval, has white sawtooth edges and red veins running through it. The self-portrait is a close up of my face, taking up the whole leaf and I am looking off to the side

C-Spine Lordosis, 2018, Chlorophyll print on comprosma leaf
Image description: A chlorophyll print from an x-ray of my c-spine on a green comprosma leaf. The leaf is on a black background and is oval-shaped. The print of the x-ray takes up the whole leaf with the base of my skull at the top and my c-spine running down the middle of the leaf close to the midrib vein.

Marginal Erosions, 2019, Chlorophyll print on betel leaf
Image Description: A dark green betel leaf on a black background. The leaf is shaped like an upside-down heart. Printed into the chlorophyll appearing in lighter green is an x-ray of my hand. The bottom of my hand rests and the bottom of the leaf and my curved fingertips touch the very top of the leaf.

Ulnar Drift, 2019, Chlorophyll print on ti leaf
Image Description: A ti leaf on a black background. The leaf is a tall and skinny oval shape. Printed into the chlorophyll is a silhouetted hand reaching up.

Eyes Open, 2019, Chlorophyll print on hibiscus leaf
Image Description: A green and yellow hibiscus leaf on a black background. Printed in the chlorophyll on the left side of the leaf is an eye. The center of the leaf is green and the edges are bright yellow.

Hip Dysplasia, 2019, Chlorophyll print on caladium leaf
Image Description: A green and pink caladium leaf on a black background. A chlorophyll print of a shadow walking is in the right margin of the leaf. The person leans to one side as they move.

Arthroplasty, 2018, Chlorophyll print on elephant ear leaf
Image Description: A large elephant ear leaf on a black background. Printed in the chlorophyll is an x-ray of a total hip replacement. The femur bone and implant run along the midrib vein of the leaf.

Villainous Character, 2019, Chlorophyll print on hydrangea leaf
Image description: A green hydrangea leaf on a black background. The leaf has dark purple and light grey spots from weathering in the fall. Printed in the chlorophyll in a lighter green are Richard III’s spine and rib cage.

Skips A Generation (For Anne), 2019, Chlorophyll print on hosta leaf
Image Description: A hosta leaf on a black background. An old family photo is chlorophyll printed into the leaf. A woman is looking at the camera and smiling.

Gary, 2018, Chlorophyll print on elephant ear leaf
Image Description: A green elephant ear leaf on a black background. Printed in the chlorophyll is a portrait of an older man from the side. His portrait takes up the whole leaf.

Clean Brain Scan, 2018, Chlorophyll print on squash leaf
Image Description: A large green squash leaf on a black background. Chlorophyll printed into the leaf is a brain scan, the scan takes up the whole leaf.

Lung Inflammation, 2019, Chlorophyll print on caladium leaf
Image description: A green and pink caladium leaf on a black background. The leaf is round with rippled edges. Printed in light green chlorophyll is an x-ray of a rib cage. Bright pink veins and chlorophyll of the leaf run through the center of the leaf and print of the rib cage.

BB, 2019, Chlorophyll print on hosta leaf
Image Description: A round green hosta leaf on a black background. Printed in the chlorophyll is a close-up portrait of a woman’s face from the side. Her portrait takes up the whole leaf.

Images © Megan Bent