MANDEM has been awarded an artist grant funded by the Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation for their work on the Hypermobility series of paintings and mixed media installations. The Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation created this one-time grant opportunity to help remove barriers for individual artists because “creative expression is integral to personal growth and vibrant communities.” The foundation partnered with VSA Ohio to identify individual artists whose projects “ultimately foster a more inclusive society.” Hypermobility depicts models with connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, exploding the line between medical documentation and art while recentering disability as a form of beauty. Intermedia artist and critic Karrie Higgins wrote of the Hypermobility series: “With chiaroscuro and unflinching realism, these paintings subvert the medical gaze and redefine disability as beauty and power, without glossing over the pain and reality of the condition.” The funding from this grant will be used to continue work on the Hypermobility series, which has exhibited in Italy, England, Canada, and the U.S.
Hypermobility has also received funding from two consecutive Ohio Arts Council artist grants (2016 and 2017). Article originally published by FSU College of Art News.