This past September, I had the immense pleasure of connecting with New York-based artist, Gordon Sasaki. For over 30 years, Sasaki has been working to increase disability awareness and promote universal access to the arts. His overarching mission of inclusivity permeates the relationships and communities he has built. Sasaki’s art practice and work in accessible programming at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) are “so closely intertwined...that life and art are really one [in] the same”. As a person with a disability himself, Sasaki often uses his work to “examine aspects of the human condition” (Open Door Gallery, 2010) and explore the experience of living and working as an artist with a disability in a city like New York. Sasaki says place and community are integral to his work because they are part of his identity, but also influence his relationships with “other individuals and groups within those diverse communities.” New York is an interesting city when it comes to community and belonging – it is both the place where people believe anything can be achieved and a place so tough it could very well chew you up and spit you out. I think Sasaki’s photography quite poetically illustrates this dichotomy of feeling the simultaneous sense of belonging and exclusion.
In his series NY Portraits, Sasaki photographed fellow artists who work in a variety of creative fields and who also have a variety of different disabilities. By showcasing these artists, Sasaki launches a dialogue about disability while concurrently declaring that “disability is not a defining characteristic of these individuals” – it is “only one component of any person's identity and no one should be defined in any singular or narrow terms.” One of the most interesting aspects of his work that Sasaki and I talked about was his relationship with his subjects. What began as photographing friends, quickly spread by word-of-mouth to other artists in the disability community. Friends or not, one of the critical components of this series was Sasaki’s ability to develop a deep sense of trust with the artists. This trust allowed them to share not only their art experience but their – at times, difficult-- experience with disability. Unlike stiff studio portraits, Sasaki asked his subjects to choose their own setting, often their work space. This brought a sense of comfort but also tells us so much more about the person and their life. Through NY Portraits, Sasaki has created and strengthened many individual relationships, but it is also the entire disability community that is “strengthened through such collaborative projects."
While Sasaki’s art practice involves a network of more informal communities, his position at MoMA provides him a parallel avenue to increase access to art. Sasaki chooses to focus on disabled and underserved populations through art education because “this is where I feel I can have [the] greatest impact through my teaching experience and art." As a member of the Art Institute of Chicago’s accessibility committee, I know firsthand that even at large institutions, accessibility is an area often advocated for, and by, a rather small group. In today’s cultural climate diversity is frequently discussed solely in terms of race, when in actuality art institutions could work to improve diversity in a number of areas, including accessibility. As Sasaki said, “difference is important and should be celebrated through diversity and [the] building of tolerance.”
When I asked Sasaki about the intended audience for his work, he explained that through the use of new media and digital formats which enable greater access, he makes his work for everyone, regardless of ability. He added that “as we know, life is experienced through all of our senses, as so should art." Sasaki’s work, such as the NY Portraits series, serves people both in and out of the disability community. By sharing artists with disabilities’ stories and celebrating their work, he is speaking to this audience and showcasing their experiences. By also addressing people without disabilities, Sasaki is spreading awareness (particularly about the many types of disabilities, seen and unseen) and encouraging acceptance.
Gordon Sasaki also turned the NY Portraits series into a photography book. In doing so, he was able to include quotes and other text alongside many of the portraits, which really added another layer to the narratives he created in collaboration with the other artists. I think one of his subjects, artist and educator Karen F. Kacen, said it best – “we have more similarities than differences” – a simple yet powerful truth. Sasaki’s photographs do not show people with disabilities, they just show people. Boiling life experiences down to their most elemental form in order for the viewer to find a piece of themselves in the work, is exactly what art does best.
Links to Gordon Sasaki's work:
Image: "Karen - Visual Artist" by Gordon Sasaki.