Different Body: A Creative Consideration of Embracing Disability through Typography and Collage

Abstract

Physically disabled women are more affected by the pressures of Western beauty than their non-disabled peers, resulting in disabled women experiencing lower self-esteem and body image. This practice-led research project implemented an autoethnographic framework to articulate a woman’s experience with disability. It aims to challenge current perceptions of beauty and shed light on disabled experiences through creative practice. The publication, Different Body, presents the four stages of self-acceptance, articulating a progressive personal journey of disability. Situated within the contexts of beauty ideals, representations of disability in art, collage and femmage, and experimental typography, the project used publication design, collage and experimental typography to express hidden emotions and societal perceptions of disability. Using autoethnography and action research, this project employed a series of methods of project ideation, collage inquiry, experimentation, and production to articulate the disabled experience. Different Body aims to recalibrate perspectives on beauty by presenting disabled women in unique and positive ways, encouraging non-disabled people to change the way they view beauty and disability, while empowering disabled women at the same time.