Rachel Jump

Everyone is Icarus | I remember when my 80-year-old grandfather attended my thesis exhibition before I graduated from RISD. After looking around the gallery at the photographs I made of my family and hometown, he said, “You know, Rachel, not everyone is going to put the work in to understand your art, because its challenging. 
“However, we are your family, and we are willing to do that for you.”

As someone who has been dedicatedly creating photographs of my family for over 15 years, I am still humbled by their unflinching- willingness to make themselves vulnerable to my lens. My practice explores and dissects the malleable nature of my family’s personal history. They represent a reinterpretation and examination of how individual family members react to hardship, and how trauma transforms individual perceptions of our collective family history. Recently, my photographs have been exploring the aftermath of my father’s genetic testing results. This unveiled a hereditary disorder that heightens his susceptibility to cancer. This revelation offered a possible glimpse into our future; a rare, yet ambivalent, gift.

This work is an exploration of my family and our efforts to provide comfort and resilience for one another in times of hardship. Through this collaborative project, we guide each other through the weight of newfound clarity, supporting one another as we confront how our lineage and shared experiences shape our sense of identity.

What aspects of ourselves do we choose to inherit, and what parts lie beyond our control? My photographs reveal not only the physical and psychological traits we are capable of inheriting, but how we decide to reconcile with that truth. Through this narrative, I hope to unveil the balance between acceptance and agency, highlighting my family’s recognition and defiance towards the path that has been carved out for us. www.racheljump.com