Sticks and Stones

Expectations hurt

Name: Sticks and Stones

Medium: Paper and ink

Having a neurological disorder can lead to low self-esteem. Not because of the disorder itself, because of socital expectations and stereotypes.

I have ADHD. I was lucky to get diagnosed early and have accepting parents and teachers growing up. For years I only though of ADHD as a problem, a disability. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized that there were both positive and negative traits tied to the disorder. I have discovered both in my experience and in other people's stories that neurodivergent people are criticized than their neurotypical counter parts because they have difficulties with things that neurotypical people consider trivial. In this self-portrait I attempt to convey the self-esteem issues that the constant criticism leads to.

The portrait is based off the reference photo below. I printed out a large version of the image then added graphite to the back of the print out to make carbon paper. I used this to trace basic shapes onto my piece of paper. Finally, I did the shading by layering an ink and water mix. I chose to use pencils and erasers to represent sticks and stones as a way to reference the difficulties my ADHD has caused me in classes.