Jessica Sarah Switzer
In loving memory of Jess
13 July 1984 - 20 September 2022
Jessica Sarah Switzer” was a force of nature. An artist of incredible talent, a lover of wild weather, a fierce believer in the need to fully express all of who she was, a devoted wife and mother, a much loved sister, daughter and friend.
For the past 4 years since her diagnosis, Jess fought to not be defined by the breast cancer that ultimately took her from us. She succeeded in every way. While she was a breast cancer awareness advocate and “pink sister”, Jess made sure we knew her as much more than the young mother with cancer.
To us, Jess was the woman who created artworks in pastel of such mind blowing realism that one could only boggle at what kind of a mind and eye she must have.
Jess was the woman who dressed up to the nines to go to chemo, her many outfits legendary.
Jess was the woman who used her stunning creativity to design bedrooms for her children that would be a place of beauty fun and refuge for their future.
Jess was the woman who loved creepy crawly slithery things and would calmly catch a funnel web to be milked for antivenom.
Jess was the woman who loved wild wild weather and the raw beauty of nature, if there had been a tornado available she would have chased it.
Jess was the woman with a fierce love for her children and husband and who would have done anything for them.
Jess was the artist who tried to spend every moment she was able, creating.
To her family and those closest to her, Jess was so much more than all of this.
The one thing we all know is that Jessica Sarah Switzer was never defined by her disease. She was, and in our hearts still is, a force of nature
Jessica and her husband Tim’s three young children are students of Laguna Public School. As they go through their journey at Laguna, we the school community, will do what we can to honour their beloved mother and support them in any way we can.
Jessicas Tree
A few words by Principal Craig Howe:
In late October, the students and staff planted a tree in our school grounds in memory of Jessica Switzer.
Wife of Tim and mother to Ashton, Kayla and Harley, Jess was also an extremely talented teacher and artist.
We will miss her radiant, happy presence at school events and at the school gate.
For Jess’s children, the tree is something that they can nurture and somewhere to visit and remember their mum. This particular tree, Ulmus parvifolia (Chinese Elm) will provide shade and shelter for our students at our library steps and lunch area -the heart of our school- and provides an apt metaphor for the wonderful mother Jess was.
— As we remember Jess, the woman, mother and artist, it is only fitting that the final words come from Jess herself
“My art reflects all that I am. Whilst it is a labour of love and a welcomed escape, it is also witness to anxiety, depression, self-doubt, low self-esteem, and a constant battle of worthiness. As confident as I come across in my art and everyday persona, every artwork I undertake challenges every aspect of who I am.
In recent years I have been redefining myself as an artist since my world was rocked by cancer. While writing numerous profiles over the years it has become evident that I draw a lot of my inspiration and strength from nature itself, observing the beauty and fragility of life around me, of survival, success, death, and decay. There is something comforting and reassuring about this knowledge of nature and the cycle of life, one of which strangely gives me power over my own existence and fate.
Horses and Australia’s wild brumbies have always been a favoured subject, even as a child. The brumbies inspired me by their beauty, strength, and resilience to survive a hostile environment and threats imposed by humans. It drew a parallel to my own life as I struggled through mental health as a teenager and now as I battle metastatic breast cancer. Through trauma there is still beauty and I explore this through my art.
My drawings and paintings are meticulously rendered to life-like realism, capturing a raw moment in time reflective of my life, while healing and rediscovering myself as a survivor and artist. The use of traditional mediums act like a filter to comfortably explore and portray the raw and intimate moments of the journey to my audience.”
