It can be very difficult emotionally when your mind wants to complete a task and your body is not capable of matching the efforts. I am grateful to have found a new medium that I can work in that brings together my passions for photography, fashion and design, while integrating a purpose for disability awareness. A collection that I feel represents all aspects of my personality.
The medical aspect of my life can be so all consuming from appointments, illness itself, treatments, pharmacies and insurance companies, etc. It’s so integrated into my life that to be dismissive or uncomfortable with the topic, leaves me feeling dismissed as a person.
I feel our culture can sometimes glorify drug use, yet there is a stigma with mental health medication and really NO talk of physical health medicine. I want to glamorize the pills that keep my heart rate stable, the shots that ease my nausea, the I.V.’s that raise my blood pressure. I want to change perceptions.
Each piece addresses an aspect of how my disability has effected me including treatments, physical illness and my mental health. I convert my real life experiences into a reimagined reality, with a lot more sparkle. My attempt is to glamorize subjects, that in my experience have been labeled as “taboo” to discuss openly.
My goal with my work is to change the way disability is viewed in society in general as well as make sure others in the disability community feel seen. In the process I am trying to acquire a sense of acceptance within myself.
