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Practicing Saying No, 2026
4-channel video Installation
dimensions variable
Practicing Saying No means training yourself to confidently decline requests, reject tasks, and set personal boundaries without feeling guilty. It treats the ability to refuse as a muscle that must be actively exercised to prioritize your mental health, manage your energy, and ensure time for what matters most. This installation features videos of the artist's mouth saying "no" in The Firefighter code of Striking the Four Fives, in which bells are rung in a sequence of 5-5-5-5 when a firefighter has died in the line of duty. The repetition of videos played on a loop serves as a chorus, illustrating ways to say no while also functioning as a psychological alarm. The monitors are in a red space on freestanding easel TV stands, painted red with red electrical cords, creating an anamorphic, sculptural effect and relating to the red used in emergency communications.
Jessica Wimbley is an artist/curator based in Sacramento, California. Wimbley utilizes the literary term biomythography, defined by poet Audre Lorde as a combination of “biography, myth, and history”, as an interdisciplinary visual arts practice and framework for curatorial inquiry. Her art practice incorporates the building of visual archives via a variety of photographic/material cultures. With these images, she creates interruptions and juxtapositions within histories of identity, digital photography, video, performance, and collage. Her works are included in academic, museum, and public art collections, including the CA Public Digital Art Collection, Crocker Art Museum, and LACMA. Wimbley’s recent public art projects leverage visual storytelling to address critical social narratives. As a Sacramento Creative Corps Fellow, she led the Colonial Park Transformation Project, using community-centered art to revitalize civic spaces. Through the inaugural ARx (Artist & Researchers) cohort at Aggie Square, Wimbley collaborated with scientific researchers to translate complex concepts into public art. Her prominent civic portfolio also includes the "Social Justice Billboard Project" in Minneapolis, a Los Angeles Metro K Line commission, the City of West Hollywood MIMA commission, and California's statewide "Your Actions Save Lives" public health campaign, centering identity, history, and wellness in the public sphere. Wimbley received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design, M.F.A. in Visual Arts from the University of California, Davis, and her MA in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University. Wimbley is currently Artist in Residence for the Twin Rivers School District in Sacramento, CA.
@jessica.wimbley | jessicawimbley.com