ERICKKA PATMORE

Erickka Patmore is a multidisciplinary artist, currently residing in Regina, Saskatchewan after obtaining her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Regina in April 2020. Erickka’s practice includes printmaking, drawings, painting, collage and more, experimenting with as many media as possible during her undergraduate degree. Her work and its subject matter changes frequently and is experimental, aiming to use artistic tools as creatively as possible as she uses it as a way to make sense of the world around her. Recently, though, she has focused on the topics of neurodiversity and social stigma as she navigates life after an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood.

Artist Statement 

This installation explores the impact of undiagnosed neurodiversity on an individual’s life — resulting in lack of medication, therapy, and other coping mechanisms — drawing from my own life without the knowledge of my ADHD. I was unaware that the inability to relax, the tendency to overcommit to things, and the constant forgetfulness (to name a few things) wasn’t typical, having only been diagnosed in my twenties. 

The work comprises various screenprints temporarily collaged onto a wall. The imagery of these screenprints features repeated drawings with variations that differentiate them from one another, as well as some unique one-offs. Despite having nothing particular in mind when making each of these smaller works, the use of color, subject matter, and overarching themes all ended up very connected. The entire process was intuition-driven and involved minimal planning, from the events that informed it to the act of installing the finished screenprints. I embrace my atypical qualities and allow them to show through in my work, knowingly using them to my advantage for the first time in my career.

The chaotic placement of silkscreens on washi enables me to assemble it differently in each installation, while formally expressing the scattered thought processes that are part of everyday life with ADHD and often lie contrary to popular stereotypes. I utilize personal subject matter in order to show how this has impacted my past, using events that occurred to me before I knew of my diagnosis.

My goal in creating this work is to call attention to the importance of empathy between the viewer and others they interact with, and to broaden generalized conceptions about how ADHD affects one’s life, particularly when growing up undiagnosed. Within the details of this large composition, there are recurring motifs that are informed by comparing personal experiences with my recent diagnosis of ADHD.

Using this information, and after researching extensively about this disorder, I use this work to express themes such as how seemingly insignificant events can immeasurably change someone’s life down the road, and the profound impact of realizing one is neurodiverse. My diagnosis is something shared by many, many others, and by personalizing my ADHD through the use of small portraits of myself I take ownership of my diagnosis and offer solidarity with others who are also on this spectrum.

While developing this work over the semester, I took a lot of time to reflect on these themes, and what I could learn from them. I’ve realized that as much as I have lived through my own unique experiences in life, everyone else’s experiences are just as rich and varied, regardless of how well others personally know them. As I worked, the concept of empathy became more and more vivid as an influence in this work.  Neurotypical people may not always have the means to empathize or understand with the thought processes and resulting confusing actions undertaken by people with ADHD, and by giving visual representation to my own chaotic thoughts my work bridges this gap. With this work, I hope to show that we are more alike than different.