Behind The Artist: A Unique Cultural Perspective
So who exactly is this newcomer? An award-winning artist, for starters. Among Chams growing list of accolades in the art world is a third-place finish at the 2019 Paralym Art World Cup an annual art exhibition for people with disabilities. As an artist with autism, Cham has spent his decades-long career in the arts working tirelessly to create a better, more inclusive world for artists living with disabilities just like him, as evidenced by Vicos Artism Gallery.
You read that right. This gallery features not only Chams art but also the works of other Filipino artists with autism. In his local community, and beyond, Vicos Artism Gallery functions as a safe space where differently-abled artists can freely express themselves and gain the tools they need to hone their craft.
Hen Wiltshire: An Extraordinary Artist
The story of autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire is the stuff of legends. This 45-year-old British genius, of West Indian descent, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. Stephens transition from a non-verbal autistic child, to that of a completely verbal Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to art, is nothing but inspiring! His lifelike, accurate representations of cities, sometimes, just from a brief observation, has certainly saved him a spot as one of the most famous autistic people in history!
Art Forward: Viewing The World Differently Celebrating Artists With Autism
The following article was written by Carrie L. Estrella for the Rahr-West Art Museum Art Forward series.
April is World Autism Month, a month dedicated to understanding, accepting, and empowering people with autism worldwide. The month kicks off with World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd. Established by the United Nations in 2007, World Autism Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness about people on the autism spectrum throughout the world.
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder , is a term used to describe a group of neurological conditions that impact the brains ability to process social cues. This affects the way one communicates and interacts with other people it also changes how these people view the world around them. As a spectrum disorder, autism impacts individuals differently. Each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges some people have mild symptoms and require less support, while other people need or benefit from lifelong care.
When speaking of autism, society often tends to focus on the social and medical accommodations needed, forgetting that there are many people with ASD that have also displayed amazing talents and abilities in many areas of life, including the visual arts. With April only a couple days away, it seems appropriate to use this weeks Art Forward article to highlight several contemporary visual artists known to have autism.
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Memories On The Blockchain
The genesis of this collection can be traced back to Chams own humble beginnings in the art world. Like many other kids, one of his favorite pastimes was doodling. These doodles consisted of stick-figure art of people hed come across in a typical day, whether IRL or seen on TV.
Eventually, this became a habit of his, with his mother making sure to preserve Chams works by storing them in shoeboxes. Over time, these sketches eventually started numbering in the thousands, which spurred the Cham household to figure out what to do with all this art. In an interview with nft now, Chams father Jun spoke on his behalf to share his sons creative experience, and recounted the journey these sketches made over the years leading up to their oncoming NFT partnership with local marketing consultancy Catch21.
Vico began making these sketches more than 10 years ago, and Cathy began to collect and store them. As Vicos sketches became more refined and his collection grew to the thousands, we were thinking of more effective ways to document and market him also as an artist and graphic artist. It is here that we got acquainted with Catch21 and got enlightened with NFTs, he said.
Art On The Spectrum: How Autistic Artists Are Making Nfts Refreshing
As the hottest form of promoting art in the future, Web has a duty to push forward diversity in the creative industries in a way that upholds the work we have already put it in but takes it further into more accepting and celebratory nuances of inclusion.
The launch of Filipino artist Vico Chams Shoebox Sketches collection embodies this future and marks Chams first NFT collection launch. An award-winning artist, for starters. Among Chams growing list of accolades in the art world is a third-place finish at the 2019 Paralym Art World Cup an annual art exhibition for people with disabilities.
As an artist with autism, Cham has spent his decades-long career in the arts working tirelessly to create a better, more inclusive world for artists living with disabilities just like him, as evidenced by Vicos Artism Gallery. As the name suggests, the gallery showcases not only the work of Cham but promotes the creativity of various artists with autism. In his local community, and beyond, Vicos Artism Gallery functions as a safe space where differently-abled artists can freely express themselves and gain the tools they need to hone their craft.
Recommended Reading: What Are The Characteristics Of A Child With Autism
About The Art Of Autism
The Art of Autism is a 501c3 nonprofit. We are an international collaboration of talented individuals who have come together to display the creative abilities of people on the autism spectrum and others who are neurodivergent. Our mission is to provide a forum to connect with those who wish to employ these abilities. The Art of Autism accepts many art forms, including blog posts, art, poetry, video submissions and requests for book and film reviews. We seek diverse viewpoints including those from autistic people, parents, siblings, therapists, and others. We look to partner with organizations with similar goals for awareness, acceptance, educational events and the provision of opportunities for our participants.
The Connection Between Being Autistic And Being Artistic
Evidence has shown that not only are many children with autism spectrum highly intelligent, demonstrating creative and cognitive abilities that far exceed those of their non-ASD peers, but autistic children are also better able to process details than other children. In many tests, autistic children outperform their peers on local processing tasks, or tasks that require identification of parts of a whole. This is especially true when there are clear delineations between the individual segments of a global picture. When there is less distinction, the ASD children tend to perform equal to that of their non-ASD peers. Some researchers believe that this local processing skill is a trait of ASD and accounts for the high levels of artistic talent among children with ASD. But Jennifer E. Drake of the Department of Psychology at Boston College hypothesized that perhaps this local processing strength is a trait of artistic talent and not exclusive to individuals with autism.
Reference:Drake, J. E. . Is superior local processing in the visuospatial domain a function of drawing talent rather than autism spectrum disorder? Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/a0030636
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.
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Amazing Autistic Artists With Savant Syndrome
Not all people with an autism spectrum disorder have similar personalities and experiences. As many as one in 10 people with an ASD have savant syndrome, according to the Wisconsin Medical Society. What is savant syndrome? It’s a condition in which a person with a developmental neurological disorder, such as autism, exhibits genius and exceptional skill in a certain field – along with a massive memory.
These skills include prodigious drawing ability and visual memory, the ability to replay a classical tune by ear or memorize large numbers, and unparalleled language skills.
Keep clicking to see a few extraordinary autistic savants throughout history, with the help of savant syndrome expert Dr. Darold Treffert a psychiatrist for the Wisconsin Medical Society…
Moving The Needle For Diversity And Inclusion With Nfts
In a world chock-full of generative art projects that automatically assign a random set of traits to each NFT in collections regularly numbering into the thousands, Chams Shoebox collection is entirely hand-drawn. Despite that, each sketch has been drawn the exact same way, reflecting Chams unique visual style.
And that made this specific collection a perfect candidate for a prime NFT collection. No built-in traits, no pieces differing in rarity each piece in the collection is wholly unique. Each NFT in the collection is also touted as being a phygital piece as collectors will also gain access to each NFTs physical counterpart along with the digital asset.
The future is bright for this segment of the NFT landscape. In fact, Sevi Agregado a nine-year-old student from Vicos Artism Gallery has made big waves in the NFT art world. His work was even featured in Times Square at NFT.NYC 2022.
Proceeds from the Shoebox Sketches sale will benefit Vicos Artism Gallery, with a portion of sales also supporting the No One in Need Movement Foundation. Following the collections release are six paintings by Cham, set to be tokenized and sold alongside Shoebox Sketches. All of which goes to show how NFTs are becoming more accessible by the day, no matter what challenges beset our personal lives.
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The Early Years Of Stephen Wiltshire
Stephen is the perfect example of what an individual with special needs can achieve when they get the right support & direction. Stephens school teachers noticed his passion for drawing at the age of 5 years. They recognized that he liked communicating with the world through art. They encouraged him to speak by occasionally taking away his art supplies, hoping for him to verbally ask for it. Like many other autistic nonverbal children, Stepehen initially responded by making sounds he eventually uttered his first word- paper.
His journey began first by drawing animals, London buses, and finally, cars! Stephens savant skills are manifested not just from his spectacular artwork, but also his extraordinary encyclopedic knowledge of cars. Wiltshires love story with Londons landmark buildings began when he was just 7 years of age! One of Stephens school teachers recognized his genius and went out of his way to accompany him at drawing excursions. He even submitted Stephens artwork in childrens artwork contests, due to which he got tremendous media attention.
A Talented Filipino Artist With Autism Is Making His Nft Debut
BY Jex Exmundo
The NFT space will do more than simply uphold the ideals of diversity and inclusion the industrys long-term success is contingent upon pushing these ideals further. Enter the launch of Filipino artist Vico Chams Shoebox Sketches collection: an upcoming NFT collection set to serve as Chams official debut in the NFT space. With the release of this project, the NFT marketplace gains a new perspective from a relatively uncommon source.
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Meet The 2020 Judging Panel > >
“I feel deeply honoured to be selected as a finalist for the Spectrum Art Award, I believe that the prize has and will continue to inspire future paths of my work, whilst also validating the complex and uniquely individual experiences of neuro-diverse artists.” Elise Broadway
“The Spectrum Art Award has given me invaluable support for my work. I am grateful to be part of a space that celebrates the connection between art and autism.”
“The school reflection film, being rewarded a gold distinction and being one of the lucky winners of the spectrum a price, its reassured me of all the time I spent studying and learning, about film and media throughout my youth, has paid off.” Harry Moorcroft
“It is a great privilege to be selected as a finalist for the Spectrum Award, my passion for my artwork is driven by a yearning to share something of myself with others, a way of reaching beyond the confines of isolation and anxiety.” Joseph Coyle