Disabled and neurodivergent artists we love!

Disability Pride Month is all about celebrating amazing disabled people, challenging stereotypes and campaigning for the rights of all disabled people.

In this blog, we’re sharing a few fantastic disabled and/or neurodivergent artists that you need to know, from photographers to illustrators, filmmakers to sculptors and more! Roughly 1 in 4 people in the UK are disabled, and it’s so important that everyone can see themselves in art and culture.

Many of these artists use their work to share their lived experience of disability and neurodiversity, fighting for better representation and increasing understanding of the challenges of being disabled or neurodivergent today. But these identities are just a couple of the many aspects that shape someone’s view of the world. And whether you are disabled, neurodivergent or neither, engaging with these artworks is a powerful way to understand each other better, find points of connection and feel less alone in this messy, confusing world.
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 Read on to see some gorgeous artworks from disabled and neurodivergent artists:

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Nerys Johnson

Nerys Johnson was an artist and curator who created lively watercolour paintings of flowers, which are simply joyful.

She used simple shapes and delicious bright colours, with lots of contrast to bring out the unique personality of each flower.

The Laing Gallery in Newcastle are currently showing a retrospective of her work, including delightful paintings of Irises, poppies, tulips and more. The occasional face of a friend painted delicately amongst the foliage is a gorgeous reminder of the connection between people and plants.
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The exhibition gives an insight into how Nerys adapted her practice to suit her needs, managing lifelong rheumatoid arthritis. And how she built a strong community of artists and creatives who supported each other personally and artistically.
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Click here to find out more about Nerys Johnson: Disability and Practice exhibition at Laing Art Gallery

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Kev Howard

Kev Howard is a photographer, musician and filmmaker. He has a large portfolio of photography, with his unique style capturing people, landscapes and everyday objects with bold energy. His photography is so vivid and detailed that whether he’s at a gig, exploring the landscape or even just in his kitchen, you feel like you are there with him.

Kev often uses photography to explore relationships with disability, photographing the curves and angles of his own body, scars and medical equipment in ways that feel both confronting and mundane.
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He is vocal in advocating for disabled people’s rights and challenging negative perceptions. 

Click here to see more of Kev Howard's photography

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Christopher Samuel

Christopher Samuel is an artist who creates thoughtful projects exploring identity and disability, often using his work to address the imbalance of representation in art and culture.
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He shares his own story in The Archive of the Unseen, through a digital installation that enables visitors to scroll through images and text about key moments in his life. The information is displayed on an angular, brightly coloured microform reader used by medical specialists. This highlights the routine discomfort of medical examination that disabled people often experience.

Click here to find out more about Christopher Samuel

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Carrie Ravenscroft

Carrie Ravenscroft uses illustration to explore their experiences of mental health and ADHD, dreaming up strange creatures and characters, in altered yet familiar worlds.
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Her work feels unsettling but intriguing, filled with symbols and patterns that spark your imagination and reflect feelings of isolation and overwhelm.   

Click here to find out more about Carrie Ravenscroft

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Lady Kitt

Lady Kitt is a disabled sculptor and drag king who makes large-scale playful installations, using paper, fabric, flowers, clay and more.

These folk art shrines are made for a specific building or landscape and bring unexpected pops of vivid colours and delicious textures wherever they are created. They are often made with small groups and are used as an invitation for people to come together to enjoy a performance, ritual or workshop.
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They also founded the disabled led artist group ‘Kin Collective’, which runs events and exhibitions in the North East championing disabled artists. 

Click here to find out more about Lady Kitt

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Louise Page

Louise Page is a disabled and neurodivergent artist and writer who creates colourful, detailed artworks filled with pattern and bright colours. They explore themes of mental health and disability, drawing on their personal experiences to create abstract artworks that give a window into their world.
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Their tapestries are a feast for the eyes, filled with overlapping stitches, different objects, images, buttons and beads. Their process feels very intuitive, and the finished artworks serve as a record of Louise’s thoughts, feelings and surroundings.

Click here to find out about Louise Page's work

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Grace Denton

Grace Denton is an artist with ADHD whose work explores a wide range of themes, including community, wellness and neurodiversity. She recently created All Facing In The Same Direction, a film about diagnosis, self-governance, language and movement created in collaboration with a group of neurodivergent participants.

The resulting film is a collage of intimate and casual clips of participants sharing snippets of their experiences, mixed with clips of day-to-day life including self-care rituals, movement and rest. 
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She has also recently started the Making Time project, a network for neurodivergent artists, writers and researchers to support and motivate each other and share what they are working on.

Click here to find out more about Grace Denton's work​

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We hope you found some new favourite artists, and we would love to hear yours! Drop us a comment with your suggestions.

If you’d like to see more fantastic work by disabled and neurodiverse artists, check out Disability Arts Online and Neuro Gallery, which supports and champions neurodiverse artists in the North East.

The past few months have been particularly tough for the disabled community. The recent policy decisions have had a big impact on disabled people’s lives, and these decisions have opened the door for people to openly scrutinise disabled people. These conversations are not abstract; they have a real impact on our friends, family, colleagues and community, so it’s important that we celebrate disabled people and stand together against ableism all year round. 
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If you are looking for support Difference | North East Charity For Disabled People and Disability North – Help and advice for disabled people are brilliant charities that provide support and resources for disabled people.