A brief glance at Joshua Stafford
Hello! My name's Joshua Stafford, and by academic achievement, I am an anthropologist and licensed drug and alcohol counselor in my state. By genetic fate and predisposition, I am disabled with autism, ADHD, and some severe spinal and foramina stenosis. Throughout life I struggled with fitting in. I've always found comfort engaging in creative endeavors and exploring different outlets through various mediums.
As an adult, I've faced many of the same challenges and have spent considerable time and energy identifying work and pathways to joy that are meaningful to me. Throughout all my ventures, I'd end up in the same position — unemployed. Through all of this, I've found the one thing that's helped me is drawing and tattooing. While I may not be the best, I am proud of the work I am able to create and wanted to challenge my insecurities to show it off. For me, art is the escape from my daily struggle. Here, a collection of my various works will be displayed as a digital portfolio and catalogue of my experiences traversing disability and the ever changing landscape of my mental and physical health.
Or why disability in short
Why disability? In short, I have AuDHD (autism and ADHD), hypermobility syndrome, and spinal and foramina stenosis that leads to arthritic symptoms, chronic pain, and other significant symptoms. This has impacted my professional life in a great and many ways, from my ability to work a consistent schedule to being able to complete tasks appropriately.
AuDHD leads to many difficulties with tactile, auditory, and photosensitivity issues that hinder my social abilities. It also comes with a lot of social misunderstandings and miscommunications and stigma that lead to getting in trouble.
With the connective tissue disorder and spinal stenosis, there are sometimes month long periods where he is unable to move due to debilitating pain. The nerve endings at the base of his neck are compressed severely leading to muscle spasms and loss of mobility during flare ups of his issues. This often leads to issues with employment not understanding the duration of time this issue takes to resolve, often leading to disciplinary action and termination.
Or what the artist uses
As a child, I would draw with pen, pencil, or whatever was available to get out my excess energy and excess thought. As an adult, I've "leveled up" to more permanent means. For a lot of my work, I utilize an iPad Air and an Apple Pencil Pro. For projects that require more computing power, I use a drawing pad and my desktop computer. I primarily use applications such as Procreate, Krita, Affinity, and Gimp as they are free and disability is, perhaps surprisingly, not cheap. These tools allow me to make stencils and flashes for any design, and graphics for different projects I am working on.
While tattooing might seem like an overstimulating process, I find that the Hz range the machine I use is quite soothing, and I enjoy the repetitive motions of the process. It's a meditative and curative process for me. I'm also able to utilize my skills obtained in my previous masters programs to engage with individuals and value their beliefs and personhood throughout the process.
Or why art and mental health is important
When you mix all of these things together, aside from a mental health crisis, you get art. The best media throughout history, films and tv, photography, paintings and frescos, works of poetry and fiction, they all share something similar. They encapsulate portions of the human condition at a time where vulnerability is visible to others. Art is so closely tied to mental health. All of this is my effort and attempt to find meaning and value in my life again after being removed, both by choice for my own sanity, and via systemic discrimination hindering my ability to effectively engage in and navigate the systems many have come to, if not enjoy, at least tolerate in their own lives.
