My name is Hope Flynn; I am an emerging autistic artist, muralist and illustrator. In 2018, I graduated from OCAD University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree specializing in Drawing and Painting. Since my graduation, my artwork now focuses on the realism of animal paintings, and I have received grant funding from Ontario Art Council, such as Career Catalyst: Project Grants for New Generation Artists and Deaf and Disability Arts: Materials for Visual Artist. Lastly, I have sold over 400 custom animal paintings worldwide from Canada, the United States, China, Norway, Mexico, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Spain, Singapore, Bolivia and Germany.
I am trying to expand my art portfolio into a public art practice and create community engagement. I hope in the future; my public art can brighten someone’s day like my custom animal paintings. To reach these goals in 2021, I took the Mural Routes program “Introduction to Mural Art,” and I received the opportunity to participate for ten hours as one of the volunteers in the painting process for Poonam Sharma’s mural “Ode To Belonging.” This program developed my interest in mural and public art-making skills and wanting to create art that can interact and engage within the community. Attending the “Introduction to Mural Art” program allowed me to have the opportunity to be commissioned to create public arts for the Arthritis Society, StreetARToronto, OCAD University, Bell Box Murals Project and Burlington Public Art. I was also accepted into the Step Public Art program called “CreateSpace Public Art Forum,” where I learned to foster connections, build an understanding across geographies and cultures, and the support needed to develop public art practices for everyone to experience the essence of the various facets of arts that are very unique to the South Asian Subcontinent.
Spectrum
(This Traffic Box is located at Main Street and Maple Avenue/Sinclair Boulevard)
My spectrum artwork represents people who have disabilities. As a person with Autism, my disability affects my everyday life, but it is a disability that people can’t see. For example, when I’m on a train of thought, sometimes I forget the words I want to say even though I have a picture inside my head. This is why I drew computer chip lines in the background to represent the inside of my head. Sometimes the wires are connected, and other times it does not click; when I am having trouble with words. The birds and the flowers represent what’s going on inside my head when I have a clear picture in my head but do not have the words to describe what I’m seeing. When people look at me, they don’t see a disability, and sometimes people judge how I speak. I hope it opens the viewers’ minds about neurological disability and that not every disability is something that you can see.
