Sensationalisation
Oil on canvas, 2025
75 x 100cm
$1,800
It’s so inspiring to see you here!
“You’re so brave for being out and about!
“I couldn’t live with a disability, you’re so strong!”
As if the expectation is that disabled people live underground, emerging only to be applauded for going outside. There’s a sensationalization of presence for merely being out and about in public.
Our society isn’t designed to reward difference - uniformity and subservience serves our economic structures and desire for homogeneity.
Accepting that everyone's not the same, people will approach experiences from different perspectives, in different bodies is the first step to unravelling our bias. The first step to being a compassionate empathetic being.
You should ask yourself if you need to applaud a disabled person for simply being out in public before engaging with them.
You should ask - “How ya going mate?” Then move on as you would with anyone else.