Special Needs/disability Art....a Weird Ethical Question

Rose, I see no problem artistically with representing disabled people, no more than I see in representing the human body in all it's forms. I do a lot of nudes, artistically I have no problem with that.

Then we come to the second part, people. I mark all my nudes as NSFW and remove the t-shirt/ garment option. I have a small selection here, and they are among my most seen but least liked or commented.

I have also done a series of amputees, albinos, dwarfs, morbidly obese, contortionists, polio victims,tattooed and pierced bodies, in short, the ones not featured in fashion magazines. These are not available for several reasons.

Back to people, people are curious, or worse, and you may find they take your images out of context, some of my work has been fetishized, it could happen to yours. To be blunt, some people get off on pregnant women , or black men, or, yes, disabled folks.

It all comes down to context, and how much you can control the use of your images.

Listening to the people I have drawn, I have made some available for charity purposes for very limited contexts with their permission, but many feel the images are not for public consumption. I tend to agree with them.

That said, if I were painting a crowd, a school, I could see some disabled being a part of it, but not as isolated individual pieces

Good points, James....I will have to think about how to word everything in the descriptions. I asked some of my teacher friends on FB for their input too...hopefully I will get some good opinions from them too. Thanks!

I've heard words like ADA (American Disability Act), challenged, handicapped, disabled, compromised, special. I've heard other words I won't use here as they can be construed as derogatory. Certainly not my favorite way of designating status. I think people tend to be cautious about labels. It's a very personal question. What some like, others take offense. It's a touchy subject with no real solution in sight. Good luck.

You are right, OAFD, and it is hard to know what words to use. Thank you for your help and input.

Rose, I just searched the keyword “disabled” on FAA and there are 7,719 images. A lot of those on the first page are showing people in wheelchairs and competing in sports.

The images of horses are there because the artist says he is donating a portion of the money from sales to the permanently disabled jockey’s fund.

There are only 320 if you add the word “children”. You may get some answers by looking at the keywords and descriptions on those.

Since when are tattooed and pierced people not featured in fashion magazines? I am heartbroken to have my dreams of supermodel stardom dashed.

Rose, what people want most is representation. Represent them with respect and you'll be just fine.





Much respect to Gaga for that armpit tattoo. Gurl can tolerate some excruciating pain.

I worked with young children who were differently abled. I had, in my classrooom, a set of dolls with various special needs. There was a blind one, with a service dog and cane. There was one in a wheelchair, one on crutches, and several more. It's wonderful for the children to see their own situations normalized in this way and I think depicting them in art would also be wonderful. This kind of inclusiveness is empowering for anyone of any age.

Wow, thank you all so much for your wonderful input, help and suggestions!

Everyone needs representation, and not everyone looks the same. More wheelchairs, more differently abled people of any kind helps to remove stigmas and create more acceptance. I wish my family got to see more people who looked like them, instead of the cover models with “perfect hair, a size 0 body, and not a mark on them” give them scars, give them canes and walkers, everyone deserves to have art created about them.

Good points, Cara! Thanks!