Ashokkumar Mistry is a Neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist, writer, researcher, activist and curator based in Leicester. He is co-founder of the Disability in British Art research group and is an associate of DASH Arts’ Future Curators Programme. Recent works include the peripatetic intervention Don’t Stare, commissioned by Project Artworks for Tate Liverpool and to be shown at IKON Gallery Birmingham and Beyond Relentless Acceleration, a durational, participatory intervention commissioned by DASH Arts for We Are Invisible We Are Visible at Nottingham Contemporary. His latest collaboration with artist and writer Sonia Boué explores Neurodivergent approaches to making (to be presented at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton 2024). He will deliver the Edward Rushton Social Justice Lecture as part of DaDaFest 2023.
Ashokkummar Mistry is introduced by Joanne Lee who is a neurodivergent multidisciplinary artist based in Leicester who has been creating for 25 years.
Ashokkumar talks about ambition. What is ambition? Is ambition the same and where does it come from?
If we can understand ourselves and our human condition then we can make it easier to achieve our goals.
Ashokkumar hates injustice and feels like he can be against the world and that he can be awkward in the art world and has even been diverted from art exhibitions.
Ashokummar goes off into different tangents when it comes to making work and fighting against the orthodoxy of the art world.
Ashokummar talks about navigating through a world where people are labeled and how he liked punk music for instance and how difficult that is as an Asian man.
Ashokummar talks about his illegible his written work and how ashamed he felt which is an issue that I can relate to as I struggled with my handwriting not the spelling or the substance but how illegible it is.
The art world indoctrinates artists and compartmentalises them and then artists will mask and indoctrinate themselves and conform to other peoples’ perceptions and assumptions.
Our biographic labelling dictates how other people perceive us but not your own perception.
Understanding disability or a difference that isn’t catered for and is a subject that isn’t explored in the human experience.
Disability art and disabled artists are two separate entities and just because an artist is disabled (which is a term that is becoming outdated; disabled toilets are now referred to as accessible toilets) doesn’t mean that they will be an artist who focuses on their condition.
Activism is a huge component of Ashokummar’s practice and is a huge part of his self.
Some artists cited are Sonia Boue, Dolly Sen, Colin Hambrook and Rachel Gadsden.
I really enjoyed this talk and as an artist I feel we all have our own battles and internal struggles we can use in our artwork.
I myself was a slow learner and had to have speech therapy as a child, I have never been diagnosed with neurodivergency or autism but a lot of my friends think that I am on the spectrum.
I do think differently and can be both introvert and extrovert. Being an artist lets me exploit those traits and yes I do believe exploit is the right word to use.
I have in the past dealt with anxiety, depression and intrusive thoughts and art allows me to deal with those issues directly and assert some control which is something not easily attainable when dealing with mental health issues.
This talk affirmed a lot of observations I made about myself and the art world and found it inspiring and informative.
Rusty'sArtWerk 