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.

Showing posts with label monsters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label monsters. Show all posts

Day 265

Friday, June 10, 2011



This keychain reminds me of one of Nick Cave's pieces.

Day 263

Teletubby: Kelt has this keychain under the monster category. :)

Einstein: blind contour drawing of 1/156 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 37



In the 5th grade Kelt asked us to put his best
keychains
on his back. He thought it would make a cool picture...