Kiri - Emerging Identity, we are more than our disability

By connecting with art I overcome feeling socially isolated to develop confident self-expression as an emerging artist.

At a time in my life when I had few friends I was told Flourish Australia open pathways for people to make new connections in their community, which was exactly what I wanted. Their Penrith service provided me with one-to-one sessions and when my Support Worker encouraged me to explore my love of art with We Are Studios, the experience was life changing for me and my children.

It’s an amazing disability-led group of about 20 Western Sydney artists who live with differing types and levels of disability, including the co-founders who have autism. One of my two daughters has autism. My children were welcomed at the studio and seeing how accepted I was by these powerful role models, who could relate with what she was going through, it completely changed her outlook and mindset in a very positive way.

Participation gave us all a strong sense of belonging.

Today, I have several exhibitions and commissions to my credit or in progress.

I discovered there is a difference between art as therapy and my interest in it as a vocation. Members of We Art Studios consider themselves to be artists, not just people who do art, and inspired my passion for becoming a professional artist by including me in Gallery Tours.

Then in 2023, I was invited to contribute a piece, when We Are Studios partnered with Blacktown Arts to create an exhibition of new works at the Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre. I wanted it to represent my lived experience as a person with a disability who is also mum to two children with disabilities. I enjoy mixed media artworks with multiple components like painting, paper cutting (made famous by Henri Matisse) and found objects, so I shredded deidentified medical reports for a collage I created.

Showing my work was a huge achievement for me. Growing in confidence, I followed up with an exhibition at Westmead Children’s Hospital in 2024 and an installation at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery in Windsor.

That same year, I spoke as part of an artist’s panel to mark the International Day for Disability 2024, at the Art Gallery of NSW. Though I was nervous beforehand, addressing a room full of people as a recognised artist really built me up.

Blacktown Workers Club approached me to purchase some of my works and I was selected along with three of my fellow artists to do a public artwork in Blacktown CBD, funded by Transport NSW and Blacktown City Council.

The opportunities keep coming, with a work for Bathurst Regional Gallery in the making for 2026.

I love that my personal journey is demonstrating to my girls that we don’t need to be defined or limited by our disability. They see that it’s not my whole identity. My being seen as a mum and artist gives us all a strong sense of connection and belonging.