Colin Hanssen, a 31-year-old Western Australian artist who lives with cerebral palsy, makes abstract paintings from his wheelchair using his right hand. He has completed his first exhibition at his rural studio in Redmond, on the outskirts of Albany, and earned selection for this year's Southern Art and Craft Trail. Now he’s preparing a collection for possible exhibition in Perth galleries.
Painting as a Voice
Hanssen was born with cerebral palsy and is largely non-verbal. He combines painting with performance, using colourful and earthy tones to express his lived experience. His mother, Wendy Hanssen, said his skill emerged six months ago during an art therapy class.
"That was when it was brought home that actually this could be an outlet for Colin," Wendy Hanssen said. "This could potentially be his voice."
His mother and art therapist Serena McLaughlan say painting and performance give Hanssen a way to express that experience. McLaughlan has worked with him since he began painting and helped curate the exhibition collection.
Visitors, she said, were drawn to the work and wanted to know its story and process. Much of the art draws on Hanssen's time living in Africa. The report doesn’t detail individual works or identify the places represented in them.
"Engaging with vast expanses of landscape is a lived experience that comes through in the painting," McLaughlan said. "It's the power of art to talk of his lived experience and his stories over words. Art is pre-verbal — drawing, music and dance is all before words."
A First Exhibition and New Interest
Hanssen held his first exhibition at his rural studio in Redmond. His selection for this year's Southern Art and Craft Trail has brought more attention to the collection, and two artists from different Perth galleries have asked whether he’d exhibit with them.
Wendy Hanssen said the family plans to consider developing a series of works. "We're going to look at getting a series done," she said. Potential Perth exhibitions remain under discussion; the source doesn’t say a gallery show has been confirmed.
The account describes Hanssen's artistic practice, his exhibition plans and visitors’ response. It doesn’t identify a government decision, migration policy, international institution or sovereignty dispute connected to the story. The central details are his use of his right hand from a wheelchair, his abstract paintings and performance, and the possibility of future exhibitions.
Family Perspective
Wendy Hanssen said a neurosurgeon told the family to love Colin while they had him because he wasn’t expected to reach his first birthday. His first birthday came and went, she said, and he has continued to live with cerebral palsy while developing his artistic work.
"Colin's first birthday came and went, and we knew that we were clearly on the right track," she said. "Thirty-one years later, he's still with us, beating the odds left, right and centre."
The family account and McLaughlan's comments describe painting as a way for Hanssen's experience and stories to reach viewers. His collection has already been shown at his Redmond studio, and two Perth gallery artists have expressed interest in exhibiting with him. The next step, as Wendy Hanssen put it, is to look at creating a series.