First Impressions | 2021-present

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a black figure sitting cross-legged next to an embossed pill container with a mess of black threads over its face

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a turquoise and yellow figure next to an embossed arm crutch. They hold the end of a golden thread attached to a stitched mastectomy scar.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a cane and a red figure coming apart at the waist and stitched together with red thread.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a brown figure bending forward with hands stretched above their head. And embossed syringe next to them has brown embroidery thread flowing down from the needle to pile at the figure's feet.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping blue and white standing figures holding an embossed cane and embroidered with light blue thread.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a spotted orange figure attempting to sit up overlapping an embossed seated figure. An embroidered orange rainbow connect their heads.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping, green and black standing figures with an embossed cane and green embroidery threads reaching from their eyes to the floor.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a blue figure standing up from a chair, threads from its woven seat reaching up to its face

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring an upside down green figure sewn together at the waist.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a silhouetted figure embroidered with internal organs

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a cane and a blue figure coming apart at the waist and stitched together with blue thread.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a red figure trying to get up off the ground

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a black figure standing up from a chair, threads from its woven seat hanging from the chair

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a green seated figure with an embossed pill blister pack behind it

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring two overlapping red torsos, arms reaching upward with an embossed pill container to their side.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring purple legs with a large black circle over the abdomen

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring an orange figure standing in front of an IV stand, threads connected the bag to its face

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a navy blue figure sewn together at the waist with an embossed cane crossing their legs.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring two red torsos stitched together at the waist

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a figure with a can and geometric embroidery over the face

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a blue figure sitting below a blood pressure monitor

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring two overlapping purple figures with black twisting embroidery threads connecting their faces.

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring green upside down legs next to a forearm crutch

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring two overlapping orange figures, orange thread connecting their faces

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping, green, standing figures with an embossed cane

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a yellow figure in the fetal position, with embroidered white stars shooting out of a blood pressure monitor

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a red torso with red embroidered fringe for legs overlapping an embossed walker

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring two overlapping blue and purple torsos, arms reaching upward

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a black seated figure with threads hanging from its eyes looping up to connect to an embossed blood pressure monitor

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a dark blue figure trying to stand up below an embossed pill container

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a blue figure sitting cross-legged next to an embossed pill container with a mess of blue threads over its face

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a red, kneeling figure split apart at the waist and stitched back together

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping green, standing figures holding a cane

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping purple and pink figures connected by embroidery thread to an embossed IV bag

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a figure silhouetted against blue plants holds a cane

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a blue figure standing up from under an embossed heart rate monitor

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a green torso hovering above an embossed walker

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a red figure in the fetal position above embossed pill containers

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring overlapping blue figures in different stages of standing up

A print shaped like an accessible-parking placard featuring a black and grey figure in the fetal position curled below an embossed IV bag. A tangle of white embroidery floss flows from the IV bag to wrap around the figure.

First Impressions is an ongoing print and print installation series that reimagines the U.S. accessible parking placard. It utilizes a variety of printmaking techniques, including intaglio, relief, monotype, and blind embossment, as well as hand embroidery.

The inspiration for this work stemmed from a desire to explore the nuances of disability in/visibility and the spectrum of experience that exists both between and within individuals. By reinterpreting and recontextualizing the iconic parking placard, the series aims to subvert the reductive, monolithic conceptions of disability this symbol has come to represent, instead reflecting the inherently fluid nature of disability as a multifaceted experience in constant flux.

The materials and processes used in the series are deeply symbolic of these themes. Repurposing copper and linoleum scraps for the figurative plates allows the surface imperfections to become a feature, rather than a flaw of each print—an embodiment of the beauty found in bodies too often marked as broken and disposable. Incorporating blind embossment of various medical tools and mobility aids emphasizes how the presence or absence of such icons of disability can radically change external perceptions, even when one’s core identity remains the same—disability is dynamic and not always visible.

The various installations of this series, each featuring different prints in different configurations, further serve to illustrate the fluidity of the disability experience and its impact on identity. Just as no two prints are alike, no two installations are alike, nor are two experiences of disability alike, nor two different days with the same, dynamic disability. Thus, in all its evolving forms and configurations, First Impressions invites viewers to reflect on our diverse realities, embracing both the visible and invisible aspects of disability in all its complexity.

Installations of First Impressions have been exhibited at SITE Santa Fe, La Chancla Gallery in Albuquerque, NM, Yellow Dog Art Bar in Denton, TX, and at The Art Galleries at Austin Community College in Print Austin’s The Contemporary Print show, where it was awarded Best in Show. The work has also been published in issue #5 of SICK magazine.

The fourth installation of First Impressions was included in SITE Santa Fe’s 2023 SITE Scholars exhibit and featured 132 unique placard prints.

A print installation comprised of a grid of multicolored prints shaped like accessible parking placards. Each print is unique and features a disabled figure in different positions, some with embossed mobility aids and colorful embroidery.

A close up image of First Impressions, Installation IV showing a grid of multicolored prints shaped like accessible parking placards.

First Impressions (Installation IV), 2023

Print installation of monoprints on paper with embossment and embroidery.

10’ 9.5” x 5’ 4”

Photo by Eliza Lutz

Detail: First Impressions (Installation IV); photo by Eliza Lutz

A non-binary person with cropped red hair wears a black puffy coat, a yellow scarf, and has a double hip brace on. They are standing with their black walking stick and smiling next to their print installation.

The fifth installation of First Impressions featured 88 unique prints and was awarded Best in Show at Print Austin’s The Contemporary Print show in 2025.

Detail: First Impressions (Installation V); photo by David Allen

First Impressions (Installation V), 2025

Print installation of monoprints on paper with embossment and embroidery.

7’ 2” h x 5’ 3.5 w”

Photo by David Allen

First Impressions | 2021-present

ALL IN YOUR HEAD

HANDS ON