I was the recipient of an artist studio residency at BACKLIT, as part of a collaborative project between QUAD, BACKLIT and CANDAL to support a neurodivergent artist to develop her artistic practice.
For the residency at Backlit, Quad and CANDAL, I have considered different aspects of narrative around being neurodivergent. Drawing on my own lived experience and that of others, I have visualised how conversations can feel and then expressed through the formal qualities of an image. I have used textiles to explore two dialogues inspired by the Double Empathy issue, the first piece is a ND to ND conversation while the second is a ND to NT conversation.
I also created two portraits, a self portrait and a portrait of my sister. We are both late diagnosed autistic and adhd women, and have both encountered the invalidating phrase ‘But you don’t look…’
A conversation with artist Stephen Jon Cooper, who works with people to create masks that give them a voice, led me question how the inner worlds of autistic and adhd people are masked and hidden. I will be working on creating these bright and colourful inner worlds in the next stage of creative development.
About the Residency (from the Institute of Mental Health)
QUAD, BACKLIT and CANDAL partnered to develop a programme of arts-based activity and professional development support specifically for creative practitioners that have neurodivergent condition(s). This was a focused platform to spotlight the challenges that neurodivergent practitioners face with the objective of supporting an ND artist to develop a new body of work, exploring elements of their lived experiences and processes that may differ from neurotypical behaviour. Applicants were invited to supply an expression of interest as part of the application process. The successful candidate was Christine Thomas, an ND artist based in Derby. Christine was offered a studio space at BACKLIT for 9 months and a bursary towards artist materials. During Christine’s time, QUAD and BACKLIT have met with her, providing one to one support. The result of her residency will be displayed as part of her exhibition at the Institute of Mental Health.
The applicants that were not selected for the residency were invited to join a new ND network named NAN (Neurodivergent Artist Network). This is a collective of ND artists who can continue to work collaboratively to support each other with artistic and professional opportunities. This is a great legacy to the programme and continues to be led by QUAD and BACKLIT. The NAN have been invited to produce work for other opportunities including the up and coming BACKLIT members exhibition.
The next phase will mainly focus on the future development of NAN and continuing to explore best ways to support the ND artistic community.
