CHASI marks National AccessAbility Week

For National AccessAbility Week 2025 (May 25-31), CHASI Artist-In-Residence sought to represent the experience of people with disabilities in two new pieces.

The first shows draws on the facets and barriers to accessibility. Buildings and transport that only sometimes account for physical disabilities, aid that only comes after mountains of inscrutable paperwork, resources either too specific or stretched too thin.

Illustration. In the centre is a brown eye, filling up almost the entire width of the frame, with a seemingly furrowed brow. In the centre of the iris is the reflection of a keyhole. Behind the eye, the image is divided in two diagonally. The upper right side is dark blue with a checkered pattern. The lower left side shows forms, lists and checkboxes that aren't readable, but represent endless paperwork. The image has an overall tone of stress and feeling overwhelmed.

The second in inspired by the concept of acceptance as accessibility. Sharon writes: “Policy and initiatives are both big parts of creating an accessible world, but that all has to begin with acceptance, empathy, and support, or they can become barriers instead.”

Illustration. A femme person is in the centre of the composition, their face lowered with a warm, peaceful expression. Their hair flows down past their shoulders, and they are holding a theatre mask, which they seem to have just removed. Pink squiggly lines emerge from their head (in front of the brain) and spiral out into a blue background, where hands from unseen bodies seem to take and accept them from all angles. The image has a tone of comfort and acceptance.