Current Work:
From the earliest prosthetic devices to the more recent emergence of cybernetic implants and virtual reality therapies, technology has played a significant role in the lives of disabled individuals. While society often dreams of using technology to push the boundaries of organic living, the reality of augmenting disabled bodies often causes discomfort and disgust as society struggles to reconcile the intersection of the organic and the artificial. When placed into practice why is the “cyborgian body” so disquieting?
Our positive relationship with technology hinges on associations with health—but the “cyborgian” body is only divine when it masks our mortality. Through digital landscapes, virtual augmentation, and identity curation, this project explores the complex and often fraught relationship that many people with disabilities and chronic illnesses have with technology. As I examine how technology is seen as a positive force for “wellness”, I also delve into how it can be used to mask or erase the mortality of the body. This is especially prevalent in a society that values able-bodiedness and sees disability as a deficit.
The work draws from glitch feminism, which challenges the dominant narratives of technological progress and celebrates the imperfections and failures of the digital world. By embracing the concept of the "glitch" – the unexpected or unintentional errors that often occur within digital systems – I aim to subvert traditional understandings of the digital body and offer a new vision of what it means to be human in the age of technology.
Previous Work:
Cardinal, am I a Christian? navigates trauma and the subsequent fear of violence and death through fantasies of martyrdom and immortality.