Caelan Boissevain

To move your hands and body in ways that are unique and familiar to yourself, is the most beautiful way of being in the world and being true to who you are. That which is created in these moments can be one of the purest forms of art. Happy, loud hands can make wonderful things that improve our lives and do not have to fit into a system which was not made for us. Even the smallest action during a moment of rest can be a form of resistance.

I try to create art for the neurodivergent minority in society. This minority has been written off as the ‘black sheep’. I hope to reclaim that discriminatory image and make it our own again. By using Neuroqueer Theory, I connect my own slow and tactile ways of working to society and the people who identify similarly to me. 

Working with hand-spun, hand-knit yarn, my technique reflects my inherent need to use my hands to create and to do this in a slow, repetitive and familiar rhythm. It also reflects notions of sustainability, connection to nature, self-awareness and self-empowerment. I strive to create a space within my art where the audience can experience this alternative way of being. A judgement-free zone where anybody can be themselves, where they can take a moment to relax and slow down, where they can reconnect with what is important to them in order to feel energized and empowered in who they are and what they do. 

We are allowed to be ourselves. In all our unique, slow, neuroqueer ways. We can contribute to society in a way that makes us feel seen, heard, valued, appreciated and empowered.