When A Disability Is Art In Person
Newcastle Herald
Monday November 23, 1998
MARYANNE Ireland has turned her disability into an art form.
The 36-year-old Belmont visual arts student, born with a spinal cord injury that resulted in severe scoliosis, has immortalised her nude photographic images and plans to exhibit them to raise public awareness about spinal injuries.
She chose to issue news of her exhibition last week to mark Spinal Injury Awareness Week.
Ms Ireland said the aim of the photographic exhibition was not only to promote spinal injury awareness but also to `upset' the public's perception of the perfect body.
`I wanted to push the boundaries of the female nude and also challenge people's ideas about those who have a physical injury,' she said.
The injury to her spine was caused at birth.
A date and place for the exhibition are yet to be announced.
Ms Ireland is working on some of the final prints for her collection, which are abstract nude shots of herself.
As part of the week's activities, Ms Ireland and other people with spinal cord injuries shared their experiences to help educate the community about what it's like to live in a wheelchair.
`My message to those with a spinal injury who would like to be involved in art is not to be put off by perceived access difficulties because there are always ways around them,' Ms Ireland said.
© 1998 Newcastle Herald
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