Stepping Into Ourselves
The call-out to Artists:
Laura and Nikki warmly welcome you to this corner of FaB. We are both late-identified and diagnosed autistic/neurodivergent folk, who have found the process of recognition and diagnosis to be transformative in our sense of self-awareness and self-actualisation.
Processing territory within ourselves which for many years has felt like a place of wrongness or inconvenience, through a lens of understanding and care has been profound in creating space to be visible and celebrated.
We invite people who have experienced a later in life (18+) diagnosis or realisation of autism and / or other neurodivergent condition/s to explore their process and share the impacts that such life-changing information can have on identity, through art and making.
Through the enquiry and process of unraveling (masked) past identities the deconstruction, rebuilding & making sense of authenticity are called into focus. In exploring these aspects of self, are they fluid or rigid, permeable, malleable, ephemeral, loose, hard, tight, enlightening, empowering, or more debilitating, restrictive, enclosed, more ‘dis-ordered’?
What does radically accepting oneself look like, and in the context of community beginning with self; Alongside physical space, how does this extend to your wider world? To intentionally examine the subconscious processing of this very personal shift both internally and externally feels like a joyful, risky, and authentic celebration of the practice of un-masking.
Stepping into action around deconstructing internalised and external ableism and barriers is ongoing work. Therefore, from our perspective as autistic people, creating a corner of Fringe Arts Bath with the lived autistic experience at its core would be a radical act within creating community and inhabitation of external spaces.
Nikki Hatchett, Rise and Shine, 2023.
Laura Calvert, Tracey Said To. Part of a collection for exhibition 'Listening is a feeling' 2023.
Curated by Nikki Hatchett and Laura Calvert
This corner of FaB is made up of two friends. We are both artists and mums and are both diagnosed / identified Neurodivergent / Autistic later in life.
Nikki:
I’m a multi-disciplinary artist, creating in various forms; object making, installation, paint and photography. Mum to three Neurodivergent / Autistic children I have come to identify my own Neurodivergence and am honouring a new identity space for myself. I’m excited by this vital artistic progression that is evolving from the intersections of all previously known and unknown elements.
insta @nikki_june_hatchett
Laura:
I’m a painter and art workshop facilitator specialising in supporting autistic young people, and a mum to autistic children. Exploration of my own neurodivergence has had a profound impact on my sense of self and identity. As an abstract, expressive artist, painting is my most fluent emotional language.
insta @lauracalvert_
Curator Nikki Hatchett
Curator Laura Calvert
Submission deadline: Friday 12th April at 23h59 GMT
Media accepted: All mediums.
Free submission. All are welcome to apply, of any age, status, and from anywhere in the world.
If selected, we ask Artists for a £22 contribution (like crowdfunding) and/or to give some of their time, as we are all volunteers. Please read our FAQs here to find out more.
See all 20 projects open to submissions on our home page: fringeartsbath.co.uk
Fringe Arts Bath Festival will take place 24 May to 9 June 2024
To submit your work: please email the Curators stepping@fringeartsbath.co.uk including:
NB: please include the exhibition / project name in the email title.
max 200 words about your work and how it fits the call-out (written, audio file, video or another way to suit you).
some images of the work, or links to video / performance work (or existing work if it hasn’t been made yet).
any relevant links, if you have them (though it’s not a requirement and Curators might not have the capacity to visit them all).
of course please include any questions you have.
you might not hear back from Curators until after the deadline, thank you for your patience.