Tender Points. Nervous Pathways. is a heartfelt investigation into the lineage of disability - an excavation of my “Horizontal Identity,” a term coined by author Andrew Solomon. Through the integration of textured materials such as cotton fabric, velvet, lace, encaustic, and waxed thread, these sculptural wall-forms emblemize intricate bodies - human bodies, celestial bodies, and collective social bodies. 

Using my archive of found photos, I designed joyful - yet disordering - repeat patterns that speak to the complicated beauty of disabled embodiments. These brightly-colored kaleidoscopic patterns highlight the complex love of living within a bodymind that our society devalues. Inspired by my own visual experiences living with migraine aura and sensory-processing disorders, the mandala-esque patterns demand a slow, careful viewing of people who have historically been invisible, “enfreaked,” and disenfranchised.  

Circular shapes bound together with tendinous sections of waxed thread allude to the interdependent, interconnected nature of our human lives, especially within the lives of marginalized people who exist within intersectional systems of oppression. The artworks herald the ways in which this interconnection can cultivate harm or well-being depending on the social and political contexts.

Tender Points. Nervous Pathways. was created using an access-centered approach to artmaking and exhibition design. The series includes creative “accessibility features” such as artwork descriptions, audio recordings and textured artworks, along with both an in-person and digital exhibition. I consider all these iterations as individual works that comprise a multimodal series.