Artist - Writer - Consultant

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Press release: 20 November 2023 

 

Announcing Sonia Boué’s new publication, Neurophototherapy: Playfully Unmasking with Photography and Collage

 

Available both as a free online PDF download and a paperback copy £18.00 from 20 November 2023

 

Introduction

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'A love letter to late discovery!’

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Sonia Boué’s new innovative creative self-help book for neurodivergent people has been funded by Arts Council England and supported by The Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection. It has also been shortlisted for a Contemporary Collage Magazine Innovation Award, 2023. 

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Encompassing materials from Boué’s two-phase Neurophototherapy Project, it is due to launch online in collaboration with the London based arts organisation, Autograph, on 20 November 2023. 

Neurodivergent people, families, allies, arts and arts and health organisations, art lovers, photographers, collagists, therapists, community group leaders and academics alike will find this original, informative, and upbeat publication of interest and relevance. 

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Details 

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A free PDF can be downloaded on both Autograph’s and Boué’s websites, and the paperback version can be purchased on Amazon at £18.00. The Autograph website is also host to an online gallery, featuring collage works by the Neurophototherapy Project focus group and a new blog article by the renowned author and poet, Dr. Joanne Limburg. 

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'So that’s Neurophototherapy: therapeutic, empowering and – above all – FUN.’ Dr. Joanne Limburg

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This joyful and life-enhancing creative method offers a gentle invitation to ‘reconnect with the sparky kid who didn’t mask…’. Neurophototherapy is for neurodivergent people and anyone seeking to explore their true identity in new and creative ways. This method is suitable for artists and creative beginners alike.

Boué has identified a need for creative self-support strategies for people who discover their neurodivergent identities as adults. It is also a method that can be easily adopted by others. 

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This publication includes explanatory texts, colour photographs, collage works, and contextual essays by Dr. Joanne Limburg and Professor of Performance at the University of Kent School of Arts, Prof. Nicola Shaughnessy.

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Backstory 

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Neurophototherapy was conceived during the first Covid lockdown in 2020, when Boué began a process of self-documentation at home while isolated from her studio. Sharing a series of satirical photographic self-portraits online proved transformational, and Boué gained a newfound confidence to unmask her neurodivergent identity through her art.  

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Neurophototherapy has also been inspired by the practice of Photo Therapy, as exemplified by the British artists Jo Spence and Rosey Martin. Boué has innovated by teaming up with the award winning collagist, Miranda Millward, to introduce a collage element. Collage has since become key to the Neurophototherapy method, making it a highly accessible practice by using readily available materials such as scissors, paper and glue.

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Sonia Boué

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Sonia Boué is a neurodivergent multiform artist. She is also a writer on autism and art and a consultant for neurodiversity in the arts. She has a significant body of postmemory work and her current focus is neuro-inclusive practice-led research.

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She has recently written two warmly received PDF/publications for BOM (Birmingham Open Media), Am I Autistic? (2022) and Autistics at Work (2023).

 

Autograph 

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‘Autograph is located at Rivington Place in Hackney, London. Our iconic building is England’s first permanent public space dedicated to diversity in the visual arts. It houses gallery spaces, pop up cinema facilities, an education studio and Autograph's photographic collection.’

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‘Established in 1988, our mission is to champion the work of artists who use photography and film to highlight questions of race, representation, human rights and social justice.

Through doing so, we invite people to explore the creative and critical power of visual representation in shaping our understanding of ourselves and of others.

Every year we engage hundreds of thousands of people locally, nationally and globally at our gallery in London, digitally and through projects taking place in partner spaces.’

 

The Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection 

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‘The mission of the Doug + Laurie Kanyer Art Collection is to build a strategic, international art collection dedicated to collagists from 1980 to present. Key values are to develop a record of study and historical significance and to intentionally archive the artists’ work in order to celebrate the medium.’