Contemplating Movement (2021)
Image Description: On the floor, a wheelchair is laid out disassembled with all its parts laid out in an organized grid.
326 individual parts, laid out for inspection and contemplation. For nearly five years, this device was methodically folded and unfolded, for the sake of my autonomy. The dependence I had on this machine became spiritual. To take it apart was like doing an autopsy on an old friend. By taking it apart, I sought to both lay the object to rest and understand something more about it. The logistics and complexity of the object, laid out for view with the tinge of sadness reserved for a first love.
A Discarded People (2021)
Image Description: The installation sits on a grid created with charcoal. Divided in two, figures sit on the floor and are hung above in the grid on the wall. All figures are made from found trash. The figures pinned on the wall resemble legs, made out of various materials like twigs, wrappers, and glass. The figures on the ground resemble torsos, made out of materials like leaves, bottle caps, and pencils. The torsos reach and climb towards the grid and the legs.
The torsos below crawl and climb to reach the legs above. All they want is to become whole again. This piece is about that struggle to be functional, normal, whole. Even when doing so is detrimental to yourself. The grid represents society systematically not addressing issues of accessibility for those in need. I use trash both to comment on the fragility associated with disability, but to also elevate the materials along with my community. We are a discarded people.
The Unnatural Conversion of Energy (2022)
Image Description: Four black and white images depict a young man in a wheelchair. There are ghost-like apparitions around his arms and head that display movement. Although the movements are hard to see, they depict the man having a seizure.
Conversion disorder is a condition in which a person experiences physical and sensory problems, such as paralysis, numbness, blindness, deafness or seizures, with no underlying neurologic issues. The brain converts extreme amounts of stress into physical symptoms as a form of defense. Despite living with these seizures for ten years, I have grappled with the issue of how to creatively document my seizures. I wanted to capture the movement and brutal honesty of these events. With the help of some fellow artists, I induced a seizure while burst images were taken and later layered together.
