<p>Deeply invested in bioethics and social justice, Canada’s rising star challenges ableism with flowers and gelatin</p>

As told to Robin Laurence

How I became an artist: Sharona Franklin

<p>‘It was only after leaving art school, where there was no critical engagement with disability, that I decided I would take the issues on myself. I started posting my art, memes, and advocacy on different Instagram accounts. Now, there are incredible disability justice resources available on the Internet, but there weren’t then. I think my meme project <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hot.crip/" target="_blank">@hot.crip</a> – which was created in 2019 as an experiment to share simple polemical comedy around ableism within everyday culture – was one of the first disability accounts out there.</p>
<p>‘More recently, I learned that I have nerve disorders and cognitive disabilities. My practice is informed by my lived experiences, however, I believe the focus should be on the societal and structural supports necessary to provide equity, not the disclosure of diagnoses. Each of the modalities I work with speaks to the alienation and structural, societal, and interpersonal barriers that disabled people face in relation to able-centric norms.          <br></p>

<p>Sharona Franklin’s work will be presented in the
<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/basel/exhibitors#107447">Statements sector</a> of Art Basel 2023 by <a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/gallery/30253/Kendra-Jayne-Patrick">Kendra Jayne Patrick</a> (Bern, New York).</p>
<p>Robin Laurence is an independent writer, critic,
and curator based in Vancouver. She has published feature articles and reviews
in local, national, and international publications and has contributed essays
to many books and exhibition catalogues. In 2021, she won the Max Wyman Award
for Critical Writing.</p>
<p>Photographs by&nbsp;Kali Spitzer for Art Basel.</p>
<p>Published on April 28, 2023.</p>

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<p>The artist’s meditative videos meld languages, lives, and lands<br>

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Stories

How Sky Hopinka conjures his Indigenous ancestors

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<p>With an installation on view at the 14th Gwangju Biennale and an exhibition at ICA Watershed opening in May 2023, the artist talks about creating space to heal through his art</p>
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For Guadalupe Maravilla, optimism is the first medicine

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Yto Barrada on fixing the world with a dye garden

Deeply invested in bioethics and social justice, Canada’s rising star challenges ableism with flowers and gelatin

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