Keychain A Day: July 2011

In 1998 my youngest brother, Kelton, was diagnosed with autism, a developmental disability that affects communication and social interaction. Autism currently affects 1/88 people in the United States. Kelton is a talented individual who runs cross-country and track, wrestles, plays the drums, loves history, and collects bobble heads and keychains.

This year Kelton decided to enroll in his first art class where he discovered his skill for drawing. His unorthodox style made me reconsider my artwork and examine the differences and similarities that exist between our perspectives. According to Paul Collins’ Not Even Wrong: Adventures in Autism, artists are four times more likely to have autism in their families. Considering the number of artists in my family, this statistic made me question the similarities that exist between Kelton and me. For this reason, we have decided to draw one of his 6,481 keychains a day for one year. These drawings will be as simple and uninhibited as possible. This project will explore our individual perspectives and examine the similarities that exist between us as artists.

Day 316

Kelt's 7th grade wrestling photo with gloves.

Today we're driving to Lopez Island, WA to camp for 6 days! Lopez is apart of the San Juan Islands and is one of the larger islands out of the 172. As we packed for Kelt, I started to think of the essentials that he needs to leave the house. His survival kit is a little different than most people's, which includes items such as sweat pants, fingernail clippers, gluten and casein free food, vitamins, history books, journals, and mechanical pencils, etc. Ever since he was little, he's never been able to wear jeans. The material is one of the few tactile sensitivities that he has. He's also always been concerned with his fingernails and hands. When he was younger he used to wear gloves to stop biting his nails. It's interesting to think about his past behaviors and observe how they've progressed throughout the years.

Day 315

Happy birthday to our sister Kenzi! She gave Kelt this keychain a couple of years ago for Valentine's day and he barely accepted it because he thought it looked too homemade. He's very particular about his keychains... The photo in the keychain is from Kelt's 8th grade graduation.

Day 314

Today Kelt got this keychain and another one in the
mail from our good friend Shelby. Now he has 6,174!

Day 313

Today Kelt and I submitted our drawings to an art show in Spokane called NEED | WANT. I thought this would be a good show for us because it's concerned with the "way contemporary American society assigns value and priority." In our statement I tried to explain how this idea relates to Kelt and his keychains, but once I started, it was harder to describe than I thought. This is what we finally said:

Our drawings and Kelton's keychain collection fit well with the show’s concept. For him there’s a fine line between need and want and sometimes there’s no difference at all. Even though he WANTS more keychains, the desire to have as many as possible has become a driving force. For this reason he NEEDS his collection because it provides ease and escape, which is important in a hectic society that’s ruled by norms and expectations. He enjoys his keychains because it’s comforting to control something. Most people with autism have specific interests and prefer a lifestyle that is consistent and predictable.

Day 312

Day 311

Piece #13, buttons

This is the 13th piece for our sculpture project. We haven't written the artist statement yet, but want to work with a variety of materials, such as wax, glue, and clay, etc., to see what Kelt likes. I'm curious to observe his process and learn if sculpture is a medium that he enjoys. I'm also interested in his relationship with the different materials. So far he's enjoyed wrapping and tying the most.

The materials are also important because people with autism often have unique responses to sensory stimuli. Examples include high threshold for pain, oversensitivity to sounds or being touched, exaggerated reactions to light or odors, or fascination with certain stimuli, etc. Hypersensitivities and/or hyposensitivities vary depending on the individual; for people with autism the continuum can range from no reaction to responses in all five senses.

This material was inspired by artist Nick Cave.

Soundsuit, 2009
Mixed Media

Day 310

Day 309

The Lexington Art League recently posted photos from the show More is More on their Facebook, which includes four drawings from the blog! Here are some of the other pieces from the show.

"More is More examines a common tendency towards multiples and repetition in contemporary art. Whether it's an influence from industry, technology, materialism or consumerism, these serial acts have profound implications about the society that created them." -LAL

Clemens Forell A Pseudonym by Dan Kotran

Souvenirs by Josh Willis

Plant Closing by Jerry Atnip

Brand New God by Dominic Sansone

Traversing Place by Johnson Hunt

Day 308

Our grandparents recently went to Lopez Island and
brought this keychain back for Kelt. Now he has 6,171!

Day 307

Today is the opening for the show More is More at the Lexington Art League in Lexington, KY. The show features 58 artists from 27 states, which includes four drawings from the blog! A few of months ago Kelt and I were chosen from over 1,200 entries! We're honored and can't wait to see the final results.

Drawings in the show: Day 3, 46, 100, 145
More pictures on LAL's Facebook.

Day 306

I recently came across Pure Vision Arts, which is a studio/gallery in Manhattan for artists with autism and other types of disabilities. I wish this studio was closer because a program like this would be perfect for Kelt. Someday Kelt and I would like to open a studio like PVA and Creative Growth for adults with disabilities. Below are a few examples of the work that is represented by the gallery.

Barry Kahn, Untitled 5, Mixed Media on Paper, 2008

Walter Mika, Obama, Oil Pastel on Paper, 2009

Susan Brown, Her Family, Mixed Media on Canvas, 2010
Brown was recently published in the book Artism: The Art of Autism

Day 305

Celebrity Artist: Zach

Day 304

Smokey the Bear: blind contour drawing of 1/163 of Kelt's bobble heads.

These drawings are blind except when I briefly look at the paper to set the pen. This series represents Kelt's uninhibited drawing style and enhanced visual skills. To view more, click the bobble head label to the right.

Day 303

Day 302

My Dad and Kelt have similar glasses, which emphasize their likeness. For this reason, Kelt hates wearing them at the same time. When they watch a movie together, he makes my Dad take them off because it makes him "feel uncomfortable." One would never assume that such a minor detail would cause such anxiety and perseveration.

Day 301

Today we saw the new Harry Potter. Kelt's been wanting to dress up since the 6th movie (2009), but we decided to wait until the last one. He was Draco; I was Lucius; Kenzi was Potter; and Camden was Dumbledore. Besides a few children, we were the only ones dressed. Kelt was really excited and told everyone about our costumes at the theatre.

Day 300!

This is our dog Babe. Kelt picked the name because he thought she looked like the pig. Even though he gets close to her face, holds her incorrectly, and is too rough, she's never snapped at him. Corgis are great dogs and seem to do well with people with autism.

Day 299

Day 298

I was going through some of old photos and came across these. This is my first autism series that I did for a class several years ago. Each photo represents a typical characteristic. (gelatin silver prints)

Difficulty with expressive language. (Water in sign language.)

Sensory outlet

Need for repetition and order. (See Day 212 for a similar image.)

Fascination with water and bubbles.