ARTIST STATEMENT
As a disabled human, I have long waited to be seen as me; seen beyond the palatably flat, bite-sized wafer of stigma. I am becoming an artist-therapist because of a reverence for seeing, holding up to be truly seen, as a vital act of care.
My artwork honors the trust-fall of seeking help, taking down the mask, and being in another’s care. As chronically ill patient, care has often meant being looked at but not seen, reduced to a body/brain-part (problem) and then being shamed for how I do or don’t care for that problem.
Our elders face this vulnerable dilemma and reduction/erasure too. At home I live with elders and watch with awe the radical acts of vulnerability that being cared for can entail. With my camera, I show up at the scene of potential erosion of wholeness and insert the self. With irony, play and mystery, I ask us to see the bravery of giving and taking care, which need not be mutually exclusive.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Gwynneth VanLaven (she/they) is an artist, disability justice activist, and therapist-in-training living in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her art practice includes photography, film, installation, writing, performance and social engagement. Gwynneth’s artwork has been presented internationally and nationally, including at the Smithsonian Institution, D.C., and Royal College of Arts, London, and published such as in The Washington Post and Performance Review. VanLaven also facilitates Community Conversations and InterPlay, a form of joyful exploration and self-other connection.
© Gwynneth VanLaven