Project Statement
With this project, Are You the Problem?, I explore the objectification and infantilization of the physically disabled community. Using ceramic stoneware, with wheel throwing and hand-building techniques, I have created pots with various diseases and deformities; meaning I worked with permanent deformities from traumatic events, birth defects, diseases, and disabilities. I am particularly interested in how the able-bodied view the disabled because of my own experiences as a person with physical disabilities. Unfortunately, in our society, there seems to be an automatic inclination to infantilize those with different needs and objectify the unknown as being “exotic”. I have experienced a lot of antipathetic treatment from others after they learned of my disabilities; that is family, friends, co-workers, bosses, and professors. This unchangeable part of myself makes people uncomfortable because they do not understand it. I want viewers to experience the scrutiny that I and so many others experience daily. I want viewers to address what the line between cute and grotesque is, and if they think that line exists with real human beings. All of these pots are more than just their condition, they all have their own stories just like us – the disabled.
Mattie Fate Wild 