Although he was born with a physical condition requiring prosthetic legs and braces to walk, John Williamson was a high-functioning professional with a long career in the technology industry until five years ago, when his body began to break down, making employment impossible. In this interview, Williamson describes how he discovered artmaking late in life, how it became therapy for him after his new circumstances in a motorized wheelchair shook him to his core and robbed him of his identity and connection to society. He is a winner of the Center’s Art for Uncertain Times competition, and his image, Walking with Faith and Hope is part of a body of work that is a meditation on mobility, meaning, and visibility.
Music in the episode is another Art for Uncertain Times winner, Wait on the Lord, or The Plaguel Cadence, by Harriet Petherick Bushman.