I recently enjoyed the opportunity to reflect on some insightful questions from LYLANI, a multi-talented creative from South East London. Make sure to check out LYLANI's work via the links at the end of this interview!
LYLANI : Do you think your approach to your practice differs from your creative peers, due to how your autism presents itself?
Gaelle: Yes: learning through traditional means is impossible for me. I can’t process tutorials, understand techniques, memorise jargon and directions. I tend to pick things up intuitively, improvising without support or guidelines, teaching myself by experimenting and coming up with a unique way of doing things. My mind is always problem-solving and designing in the background, so when I sit down to make something it is ready to come into existence, while maintaining openness regarding the outcome, which is a great balance. Tuning into that creative force feels effortless. I invariably enter monotropic flow states while creating, with potent hyper-focus on whatever project I am immersed in. This makes my creative practice a comprehensive form of self-care that gives me meaning, purpose and self-discovery.
LYLANI: Do you personally believe that Autistic people are predisposed to certain creative traits (e.g. having a vivid imagination, possibly having arts as a special interest)?
Gaelle: I can’t know for sure that every autistic person has that predisposition, but I know many autistic creatives and see commonalities. The intricacies, uniqueness, mystery and vibrancy in their work is magnetising. We seem to have access to a dimension of imagination and creativity that is bold, endless and unusual. It is not limited to artistic expression, but I think it enhances it if that is a special interest. Even if there is no artistic practice, there is often a lot of creativity in other areas, perhaps in the way we decorate our home, the way a job is done, the way we play, create systems, select outfits, make meals, or show up in the world.
LYLANI: Do you see your autism as paramount to your creativity?
Gaelle: I see autism as my operating system which informs and filters everything I receive and create, and it’s impossible to separate my creative practice from it. Creativity is the love of my life, I would be heartbroken, directionless and empty if I couldn’t create. I often feel unheard, unseen, judged, infantilised, and misunderstood. Using words can create more uneasiness and confusion, but creating something gives me a language beyond words where my maturity and capacities can be perceived without compromise. It’s an outlet, quality time with myself, and my natural way of stimming: keeping my hands occupied, being in full interaction with colours, textures, and creating something tactile that takes on a life of its own, brings indescribable joy and satisfaction to my autistic brain.
LYLANI: Overall, do you see your autism as an enhancement or a detriment to your creativity? Do you experience enhancement in one side and detriment in the other (e.g. being good at content but not good at the business side).
Gaelle: Both. I love the way autism shapes my creativity, and wouldn’t exchange it for the world, but there are real challenges: those days where I have to forgo creative hours because something else left me too drained or overwhelmed to create, the effort of processing interactions and clarifying the confusion I feel in many situations … It all borrows from the energy budget I need to reserve for creative time. I am constantly monitoring where energy is spent so that my creative time is non-negotiable.
The business side doesn’t come naturally. These days, “marketing” means you are supposed to share every step of your process as a way to connect and build trust. My creative process and creative sessions are my private way to heal and recharge, and I don’t want to share that with the world. You are supposed to teach others how to make everything you make in order to diversify income streams, and I am totally incapable of teaching anything. Besides, I don’t want people to replicate my creations. That means many opportunities are not open to me. Additionally, due to serious chronic illnesses, I often lack the energy to do basic things and have to set drastic priorities, with nothing left for the business side of things.
LYLANI: Do you find the wider arts industry's treatment of Autistic people to be infantilising and ultimately exclusionary? Do you think it varies by level, with those level 2 or 3 treated as lesser than those with lower support needs?
Gaelle: A lot needs to change. When I flag up a lack of inclusivity, the level of ignorance baffles me. I am tired of educating and advocating. The lack of healthy curiosity and empathy is disheartening. While preparing collaborations, I have been dumped when phrasing basic access needs, communications completely dropped. Most people would rather pretend we don’t exist than meet us halfway. I can’t describe the pain and confusion of that. Nowadays there is more potential for openness, growth and opportunities, but the majority of people still use inclusivity as a theoretical facade without any practical support available and no desire to operate out of the box. As far as I can see, people with higher support needs are often deeply infantilised and not taken seriously unless they have the privilege of a rock solid, tireless and resourced support team that can advocate and mediate for them.
With lower support needs, we experience a different type of discrimination, akin to what we face with invisible illnesses and disabilities. “You don’t look autistic” is something I hear far too often, and it’s a convenient way to dismiss real limitations and special needs. We end up swimming in an in-between where we don’t quite know where we belong or who to trust. I encourage autistic creatives to seek neurodivergent groups, collectives, podcasts, forums, etc. and rebuild a network from there. In those safe environments, there is no explaining to do, everyone gets the basics and we can focus on mutual support and collaborations while being on the same page. It’s a huge relief and really heartwarming.
LYLANI: How can the industry become more accommodating and accessible to Autistic creatives?
Gaelle: Having autistic people on the team is a great idea. Neurotypical teams developing pseudo-inclusive criteria for autistic creatives is never going to work. Diversify, train your teams, and accept that you have a lot to learn. Stop telling us to do all the work to shape-shift into your impossible structures and rules. Meet us halfway, ask questions and listen to our answers. We are experts with so much to offer. Take our access needs seriously; we have those in place not because we want to be difficult, but because we want to give you our best, we want to make sure we can function well enough to make collaborations work. Realise how incredibly vulnerable and brave it is to ask for what we need again and again in spite of having been discriminated against, bullied and ignored for years.
It looks like more people are making the effort and it will be a long road, but at least some are willing to stop pretending we don’t exist. I want to see more of that happening. And for those of you who are doing better and working to improve things, I’m really grateful to you! I never underestimate how life-changing that attitude can be.
Where to find LYLANI:
https://www.instagram.com/itslylanibabs/
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