Artist Mahlia Amatina
Artist Mahlia Amatina invites you into a multi-sensory experience of color, line, shape, and forms through tactile art that explores neurodiversity. Her visual vocabulary creates a narrative through abstraction, drawing inspiration from the varied landscapes and rich flavors of her background and extensive travels. Using acrylic paint, oil sticks, Indian ink, and mixed media on paper and canvas, Mahlia explodes through traditional boundaries of style and purpose.
After being diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 2015, Mahlia was inspired to share the unique sensory experiences of life on the autism spectrum through her art. Working around the theme of neurodiversity, Mahlia has transformed her signature style of abstract colorism into a unique, interactive, multi-sensory experience that invites viewers to engage on a level that works for them. Mahlia has been awarded Arts Council England (ACE) funding twice, including the ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ fund and has featured as one of the Top 50 Influential Neurodiverse Women of 2019 by Women Beyond the Box.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mahlia a few years ago back in London and it’s a pleasure to cover this new project entitled Life on a Spectrum, which involves her collaborating with New York artists.
Congratulations on successfully securing Arts Council funding for your upcoming interactive exhibition ‘Life on a Spectrum’ Please tell us more about the show and what audiences will experience?
Thank you so much! ‘Life on a Spectrum’ is an interactive exhibition that uses visual art, writing, videography, and performance art to involve viewers both onsite in the exhibition space – and online. Visitors can play an active role in the creative process as they are encouraged to interact with exhibit elements by generating their art using pre-cut magnetic shapes, and leaving responses to questions related to autism-specific traits. The exhibition will evolve, as more reactions are collated and the narrative on neurodiversity continues to grow within the space. I haven’t done anything quite so dependent on audience interaction before, so I’m excited to see how that pans out!
Please tell us more about the Developing Your Creative Practice grant and the opportunity to mentor and collaborate with other autistic artists?
To apply for the DYCP grant, you need to identify your development areas – so whether that’s working in new ways or engaging in meaningful periods of development, and then come up with a project plan of what, how and when you will do this. There’s more info here on the criteria: https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/DYCP
For me, I decided to go to New York where I could be mentored by autistic artists, visit neurodiverse art spaces (and blog about them), as well as run collaborative art workshops around the theme of ‘women and autism’ – of which the outcome was being part of a group exhibition!
The grant has been incredible as it’s given me the chance to take time out of my day-to-day work, and focus and develop in a way I wouldn’t ordinarily have been able to. This then helped lead to my current exhibition.
How did the project come about?
I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome four years ago, and since then my work has revolved around raising awareness on autism and neurodiversity through my artwork. ‘Life on a Spectrum’ will be a culmination of the previous exhibitions, the DYCP grant development, while adding in further interactive and collaborative aspects.
Are the facts and figures regarding Autism you can share?
The Internet is a minefield with information on Autism. I’ve taken the following from the National Autistic Society, relating specifically to Asperger’s syndrome: https://www.autism.org.uk/about/what-is/asperger.aspx
People with Asperger syndrome see, hear and feel the world differently to other people. If you have Asperger syndrome, you have it for life – it is not an illness or disease and cannot be ‘cured’. Often people feel that Asperger syndrome is a fundamental aspect of their identity.
Autism is a spectrum condition. All autistic people share certain difficulties, but being autistic will affect them in different ways. Some people with Asperger syndrome also have mental health issues or other conditions, meaning people need different levels and types of support.
People with Asperger syndrome are of average or above-average intelligence. They don’t have the learning disabilities that many autistic people have, but they may have specific learning difficulties. They have fewer problems with speech but may still have difficulties with understanding and processing language.
You’ll be conducting talks with neurodiverse groups in the community as part of the project. How can people register for these?
People can register by contacting me directly via my website (www.mahliaamatina.com) and can expect a one-hour session where I talk through my exhibition; the process, inspiration and previous projects I’ve undertaken. Participants have the chance to ask any questions they may have and to look around the exhibition in their own time.
Note: Please provide any information you wish to share about the format of the workshops, their frequency and how people can sign up
Where can we keep up to date with your art projects and related activities?
My website is www.mahliaamatina.com which has all my exhibition news and paintings, while you can find me on Twitter and Instagram via my handle @mahliaamatina.
Mahlia Amatina
Paintings – Acrylics on Canvas Painting ‘Transitions II’
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