ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author describes 'Crip Aesthetics' as visual and conceptual elements that constitute a style Blackbridge shares with other contemporary disabled artists, specifically in artworks that manifest a 'crip' identity of the artists and/or of the subject depicted. Her use of the term 'Crip Aesthetics' designates visible details, imagery, and sentiments in the work of contemporary disabled artists. Through crip aesthetics, Persimmon Blackbridge's work advocates for human rights for the LGBTQ community as well as for disabled people. Crip aesthetics emerge as Diane identifies with and likens herself to many of the residents of Sunnybrook, as does the author, Blackbridge. Many of Blackbridge's works hyperbolise and celebrate the corporeal and social experiences of being different from the so-called 'norm,' or the majority, and they conceptualise camaraderie between disabled people. Blackbridge's work represents a variety of impairments, draws connections between her identities as homosexual and as disabled, and makes disability political.
