by Alana DeLawter

LANG120 with Jessica Pisano

Dyslexia and Growing Up

After reflecting on my childhood, which was largely spent in a remedial program, I decided I wanted to make a mixed media piece detailing my experience and the conclusion I came to in coping with my visual dyslexia. I chose to use an eye as a self-representation for a few reasons. Firstly, my visual dyslexia is a result of distortions of my eye and parts of my brain
that contribute to my visual function. Secondly, an eye represents me as an artist because I can use my eyes to transcribe the world around me and put it on paper. I am not defined by my dyslexia but it is a part of my human experience. I also chose to use the star as a symbol in my drawing as a nod to reward systems offered by teachers in school, as well as a symbol of potential to learn, something I have despite my dyslexia. I placed scraps of paper with b’s, d’s, p’s, and q’s in various positions as a nod to my memoir, where I mentioned the letters I struggled the most with growing up. The process of making this piece started by gluing collaged notebook paper onto my bristol board then drawing on top with micron, pen, and marker.