Artist's Statement

Ruth Huizenga

Artist’s Statement

My artwork takes a diaristic view into the role of parenting a child with disabilities through the medium of photography. I lead the viewer through the world seen to the world unseen by starting with the promises of “normalcy” into the challenges of the present in navigating a difficult mother/daughter relationship.

Artifice and reality come into play as I explore some of the more psychological aspects of loving an adult child on the autistic spectrum and trying to equip her for life in a world that doesn’t march to her beat. The tension between a mother’s desire to nurture and a child’s desire to find her own comfort in food comes into play in the fantasy world where my dramatic daughter resides. By depicting her world through the visual imagery of dolls, and other childhood objects, the challenge of navigating a path from childhood into adulthood, expectations and reality and body image issues all come into play. Intricately weaving themes from her own personal writing of her own psyche, this collaborative effort with my daughter takes on an added dimension of intrigue and discovery. 

One in 68 children are now diagnosed on the Autistic spectrum.