My practice is deeply rooted in my experience with chronic pain and scoliosis, manifesting through an exploration of the human figure. Through painting and drawing, I investigate the body, translating personal bodily limitations into a broader inquiry into disability studies and the sociological implications of aesthetics.
My work critiques a world designed for the able-bodied, emphasizing the physical and attitudinal barriers that create 'disablement.' Many artists, both disabled and non-disabled, have interrogated aesthetics in contemporary art to challenge the social construct of disability. Christine Sun Kim's sound-based drawings and Tony Heaton's etchings and sculptures, while differing in materiality, share my commitment to exposing an ableist societal framework. My practice is informed by disability theories, particularly Tobin Siebers' 'Disability Aesthetics'[1] and Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's 'Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept,'[2] which contextualize the positioning of disabled communities within modern and contemporary art.
Engaging directly with these theories, I challenge able-bodied constructs of disability and invisible illnesses, as explored in Johanna Hedva's 'Sick Woman Theory.'[3] My piece 'Now You See Me,' exhibited in 'Kaos,' experimented with staging and materiality, painting on an acrylic sheet created a veil-like effect, revealing the vulnerability of disability, while a fragile, wavering painting on cartridge paper behind it underscored the invisibility of many illnesses. As my practice evolved, I shifted focus toward the manipulation of bodily forms, exploring distortion and contortion through shape and colour rather than medicalized representations. Within my practice I work with charcoal, pencil, pen, acrylic, and oil paint, allowing for a fluid exploration of bodily compositions. Inspired by Amy Sillman’s 'Faux Pas,'[4] I incorporate colour to evoke human emotion, evident in pieces such as 'Contorted Blues' and 'There She Glows.' Playing with heightened colour saturation, using neon hues alongside subdued flesh tones allows me to exaggerate bodily discomfort and the tension between inner sensation and outward presentation. Similarly, in 'Charcoal Woman,' the expressive, gestural strokes create a sense of urgency and movement, mirroring the restless experience of pain. In my practice, I consciously choose to paint using flat tones and contorted shapes rather than abstraction or other modes of material expression. This approach materially reflects my lived experience, as the distorted figures and layered forms allow me to communicate my perspective in a way that personalises my work. It becomes a true expression of how I wish to position myself within this artistic discourse.
The human form remains central to my practice, influenced by artists such as Christophe Hohler, Cristina Troufa, George Rouy, Jenny Saville, and J. Louis. Their diverse approaches to figuration and material experimentation have informed my own stylistic development, shaping my mark-making and compositional choices. Moving toward the degree show, works such as 'Bed Bound' and 'Burden of the Body' continue this exploration, utilizing a refined colour palette to convey pain, contortion, and the complexities of the figure. In these works, I experiment with exaggerated anatomical distortions, elongating limbs or compressing torsos to reflect the lived experience of chronic pain.
My practice contributes to disability discourse by challenging aesthetic norms and exposing the societal structures that marginalize disabled bodies. Through materiality and form, my work fosters conversations about perception, embodiment, and the intersection of art and activism. By intentionally distorting and manipulating the body in my work, I subvert traditional ideals of beauty and perfection, instead highlighting the lived experience of disability and pain. My use of colour as an emotional device further amplifies these themes, evoking sensations of restriction, discomfort, and resilience. In doing so, my work not only asserts the validity of disabled bodies within contemporary art but also critiques how mainstream visual culture erases, objectifies, or medicalizes them. By engaging with these themes, my practice functions as both a personal exploration and a broader commentary on disability as a social and political identity, pushing for a more inclusive and diverse representation of embodiment in art.
[1] Tobin Siebers, Disability theory (Ann Arbor, Michigan, University of Michigan Press, 2008) Page 13-20
[2] Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept. Hypatia. 26. 595-596 (June 2011) DOI: 10.1111/j.1527-2001.2011.01206.x.
[3] Hedva, “Sick Woman Theory.”
[4] Amy Sillman, Faux Pas: Selected writings and drawings (After 8 books, 2020)
Bibliography
-Garland-Thomson, Rosemarie. “Misfits: A Feminist Materialist Disability Concept.” Hypatia 26, no. 3, June 17, 2011
-Siebers, Tobin. Disability Theory. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2008.
-Sillman, Amy, Lynne Tillman, Charlotte Houette, Franc̦ois Lancien-Guilberteau, and Benjamin Thorel. Amy Sillman Faux Pas: Selected Writings and Drawings. Paris: After 8 Books, 2020.
- Hedva, Johanna. “Sick Woman Theory,” 2020. https://tobyspgcertblog.myblog.arts.ac.uk/files/2022/05/SickWomanTheory_Hedva_2020.pdf.