Madd House

Description of Art:
 Front: This piece is on a white rectangle canvas and the art was created with a black graphite pencil. The border of the canvas has a cloud shape, inside the shape are the following series of words and phrases: Irrational, Worry, Dont give up on me, exhausted, irritability, overwhelmed, sadness, intrusive thoughts, fear, brain moves slowww, numb, fear of failure, excessive sleep, introvert, worried, isolation, slow, intense, lazy, losing people, no down time, tired, lonely, not enough, routine, hopeless, drained, behind, guilt, panic, and the words inconvenience and burden are underlined. There is smudging from the graphite throughout the piece, giving it a darker appearance. At the center of the canvas is a door that is slightly open, revealing tile flooring and a peek into a blank room. There are 3 rows of tape outside of the door with the word “Caution” written on them.

Description of Art:
Front: This piece is on a white rectangle canvas and the art was created with a black graphite pencil. The border of the canvas has a cloud shape, inside the shape are the following series of words and phrases: Irrational, Worry, Dont give up on me, exhausted, irritability, overwhelmed, sadness, intrusive thoughts, fear, brain moves slowww, numb, fear of failure, excessive sleep, introvert, worried, isolation, slow, intense, lazy, losing people, no down time, tired, lonely, not enough, routine, hopeless, drained, behind, guilt, panic, and the words inconvenience and burden are underlined. There is smudging from the graphite throughout the piece, giving it a darker appearance. At the center of the canvas is a door that is slightly open, revealing tile flooring and a peek into a blank room. There are 3 rows of tape outside of the door with the word “Caution” written on them.


Back of the Art: At the top of canvas is a cloud with the phrase: “Madd House ~ No Room ''For Error!”. Underneath this'''''' is a note from the artist: Surround yourself with people willing to learn you. Support and creating your own family is a huge impact on one’s mental health. Set and respect boundaries, be willing to grow, and leave room for error. My biggest and strongest character trait is resilience... Work at your own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others! Overall, allow open communication, have Clear (underlined) expectations, and love/allow to be loved.


Back:At the top of canvas is a cloud with the phrase: “Madd House ~ No Room For Error!”. Underneath this is a note from the artist: Surround yourself with people willing to learn you. Support and creating your own family is a huge impact on one’s mental health. Set and respect boundaries, be willing to grow, and leave room for error. My biggest and strongest character trait is resilience… Work at your own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others! Overall, allow open communication, have Clear (underlined) expectations, and love/allow to be loved.

About the Artist: O’Shani (She/They)

Image Description: O’Shani has very short, blonde, coiled hair and brown skin. She is holding up her phone to take her picture and on the other hand she is making a peace sign. She is wearing a tan cropped shirt, blue jean pants, and is adorned with golden hoop earrings, a couple of bracelets, a septum piercing, a nose ring, and long jeweled nails.

Image Description: O’Shani has very short, blonde, coiled hair and brown skin. She is holding up her phone to take her picture and on the other hand she is making a peace sign. She is wearing a tan cropped shirt, blue jean pants, and is adorned with golden hoop earrings, a couple of bracelets, a septum piercing, a nose ring, and long jeweled nails.

Interview:
This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what O’Shani (she/they) shared with us on August 1st, 2024.

O’Shani is a lover of cats, long nails, long-boarding, and Anime. They are a young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth and they experience anxiety and depression.


Describing their Art:
O’Shani described how they present themselves as a welcoming person that anyone can vent to but internally, they are very anxious. So, “the door” is always open but it gets exhausting, they’re always worrying about “checking off the list” but they’re also a perfectionist so it’s easy to get stuck on one thing. The caution tape is the warning and the words around it are just some of the thoughts they are battling each day.
“A lot of people think I’m lazy, because there are some days where I don’t do anything. But my mind just won’t allow me to.”
O’Shani finds that she is hard on herself, describing her self-reflection as like “grading papers” because there is no room for her to make mistakes. She underlined the words inconvenience and burden because those “hit” her the hardest.
O’Shani shared that it was difficult to come out as a queer person, especially to her mom.
“A lot of the things I did put on that paper were what I heard from her or how she feels about me.”
Now that she lives in this housing program, she finally feels like the people in her life are supportive of every part of her.
“It’s overwhelming, because I’m not used to it, but I love it.”
For O’Shani, a safe, stable, and nurturing environment has family that is created, not by blood but by choice. That environment allows you to make mistakes and teaches you how to not just love but how to be loved.
“Your struggle does not define who you are.”

The Ableist Lens?

Created by Stacye Robinson

Image Description: A drawing of a woman with short red hair and wearing black glasses. Only her face above the mouth is seen. We don't see her wheelchair. However, we know she is sitting in a wheelchair because we see a headrest behind her head.

Image Description: A drawing of a woman with short red hair and wearing black glasses. Only her face above the mouth is seen. We don’t see her wheelchair. However, we know she is sitting in a wheelchair because we see a headrest behind her head.

ABOUT THE DRAWING:

This piece done in colored pencil and acrylic ink is loosely based on a photograph. The title The Ableist Lens? is meant to pose the question to the viewer about whether minimizing our wheelchairs or devices truly emphasizes beauty the mouth and eyes of the subject are obscured to show that excluding that part of ourselves by default minimizes us as people.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stacye Robison

Stacye Robinson lives in Indianapolis. with her husband Ryne and cat Calvin. she is committed to gentle activism in accordance with her Christian faith.

Stacye Robinson is waiting by a bus stop on Mass Ave seated in her black wheelchair in a green bubble coat and black leggings she has short brown hair and brown eyes.

Image Description: Stacye Robinson is waiting by a bus stop on Mass Ave seated in her black wheelchair in a green bubble coat and black leggings she has short brown hair and brown eyes.

Disability Without Limits

By Johnson Simons

This painting depicts someone with a disability, jumping from brick to brick defying their physical limitations, and overcoming the odds that life throws at them.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Johnson Simon

I have always been interested in body movement and when an opportunity was presented to me to attend a dance recital exhibition nine years ago on the Western Michigan University campus, I was excited to attend.  Viewing the dancers and their freedom of movement inspired me to display movement in my painting.  I was stimulated to create my first dance focused expressionistic painting.  Dancing is to me, the art of moving lightly and quickly with the skill of communicating my emotion.  As someone with a disability, movement impacts me on a daily basis.   In order to help gain more knowledge of motion and movement, I used several sources of movement for research and to enhance ideas. I watch several videos of dancing to help in determining the type of movement I wanted to present in my painting.  I studied the movement of people: walking, running, swimming, and sky diving.  I then had my own walking and stepping up and down stairways videotaped. I discovered that my walking has a rhythm to it.  To further enhance my study of movement I attended several dancing classes to sketch the dancer’s movements for effect.  My painting is a representation of me dancing.  I am able to make broad and sweeping motions with my paint brush and transfer that motion and feeling of movement onto the canvas to express myself.  In my artistic work, I am able to move freely about without limitations.  I use bright colors to represent the body movement throughout the surface.  

My artwork is a way for me to express or transfer how I would move freely and uninterrupted. I can run, walk, jump, and I can dance without being bound to limitations when I paint. Zm and draw. I believe the paint brush is an extension of me and represents my idea of movement on canvas.

www.artbyjohnsonsimon.com

A man with medium brown skin, with short black hair, wearing glasses, and smiling broadly in front of a white background.

A man with medium brown skin, with short black hair, wearing glasses, and smiling broadly in front of a white background.

Online Community is Community

By Melody Miller

Image Description; Digital art of a sideview of an anime-inspired female. She has dark waving hair and wearing black clothes. She is sitting cross-legged on the floor, typing on a laptop computer. Her expression is of joy and peace. The background is pink with swirls and hearts. The words "You are not alone" are written on the background.

Image Description; Digital art of a sideview of an anime-inspired female. She has dark waving hair and wearing black clothes. She is sitting cross-legged on the floor, typing on a laptop computer. Her expression is of joy and peace. The background is pink with swirls and hearts. The words “You are not alone” are written on the background.

Quote from the artist, “In my art, I tend to focus on one subject to emphasize the individual experience and how complex every single person is. For this artwork, I wanted to show the importance of an online community and how even if you feel alone physically, there are always other people out there, whether online or in-person.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Melody Miller

Melody Miller (she/they) is an autistic queer person who has been familiar with disabilities all their life through friends, family, and their own personal experiences. Their favorite way to express the vibrancy of their inner world is through their art, where they tend to focus on one subject to emphasize the individual experience and how complex every single person is.