Neurophototherapy
Origin Story
A series of nine photographs and photomontages with text. This work emerged from Neurophototherapy 1, Boué's Arts Council England funded R&D project inspired by Jo Spence's Photo Therapy work.
Boué revisits, documents, performs and reflects on key life experiences. She presents a playful narrative in which she reworks her life story from a neurodivergent perspective, drawing on personal archives and primary sources from her family collection. The bright floral fabric sewn to make bedroom curtains by her mother in the 1970s has been refashioned to make a coatdress. Costumes by Ann Tutt.
Birth Tree | I grew up under a tree in a prop department. My mother made the costumes while my father acted, directed and wrote plays. He said I should be on the stage as I showed an early gift for slapstick and other comedic arts.
“I am I because my little dog knows me.” | In Mexico City in 1964 at the age of two, I let go of a beautiful red helium balloon to see what would happen, having been told not to. Devastated when it floated away, I recovered my composure by swallowing a burst balloon and two pesos. I also enjoyed talking to dogs.
Nose Tree | They called me the earthquake because I could literally shake the room. This innate ability lay dormant when school intervened.
Flamingo | I had two left feet and famously froze in my debut performance of Winter Wonderland for the Woodland’s School of Stage Dancing in 1971. This was unfortunate because I had mastered ‘flamingo’ in Mexico on seeing my first flamenco performance. In my mind’s eye, I am full of grace.
Pink Panther | I adored our colour TV and the Pink Panther.
Nosey | I must have been wise beyond my years. My grandfather remarked I was the only one who understood ‘la cosa’, meaning the thing. He never elaborated, but I knew grown-ups told lies and seemed utterly silly. I developed a parallel existence, and as a child I often found my sensory acuity to be at odds with my surroundings. I now have a fascination for noses.
At the Picasso Museum | At an early age I was overcome at the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. Impressed by the cubist portraits I determined to be an artist.
A watch, two cats and some trees | I peaked aged 5 with my narrative painting about finding mother’s gold watch winder in the thick pile carpet of our apartment, when the grown-ups had long given up. It was a triumph of determination later undermined by my ‘education’.
Untethered | Untethered from my dreams I became invisible. It took many years to find my way back to my origins with a camera, scissors and glue. What had felt so remote had always been within reach. It turns out my grandfather was right. I was the only one who understood the thing. A is the first letter of the alphabet and A is for autism.