‘You are all over the place Jill’ I say to myself frustratingly. My ideas on what to write include so many facets which in turn create more and more connections to explore.
Sorry, not Sorry.
So, I NEED my creative self to speak my words that no one has heard. Otherwise I am unable to connect to the world around me.
There are other female artists/photographers my work is informed by who have used their creative output to have such a voice. covering topics such as identity, gender, equality and justice. These include Claude Cahun, Jo Spence, Gillian Wearing and of course Cindy Sherman.
Image By Jill Boyd
Motivation to bring forward images to explain, engage and gather response is due to my experiences as one who feels she has existed on the outskirts of a societal group. Summing up such an existence is near impossible, as how can a lived experience be empathetically received to the point of true understanding? To ask another to walk in my shoes feels as though the very act of inviting another on a hypothetical historical journey places me as seeking approval perhaps. The journey I choose to share is that of the present connected to the future with a new understanding.
Responding through socially engaged practice has been a means for me to be heard, to have a voice, to counteract the past where I felt I had none. This is linked to the neurotypical world, where I have been labelled through a diagnostic process as neurodiverse and therefore not typical. Connecting to a societal group through constructed imagery, I am continuing to develop visual narratives that explore and challenge the division between those who seem to not be included in this neurotypical world. This work could be called activism for the greater good of seeking justice for those who are treated unjustly.
This is where I chose to use a substitute persona in the form of a toy that creates scenarios for children in play. I called it Pov (Point of view) .
Short film about my latest work which is called The Autistic Pov (The Autistic Point of View). 10.06 mins
Exploration of Life as a Neurodiverse Creative 