Zoe Partington

Decoding Difference is the idea that the sculpture is the artist herself. The emanating lights mirror Zoe’s changing blood glucose levels and the sound of her heartbeat. The lights reflect Zoe’s hidden impairment and sight loss but not as a victim to be pitied or as a sick person, but as a woman who emanates will power, life and humanity. Zoe believes if she is seen as possessing strength, rather than courage, then difference will be welcomed, not ignored. In that case, the idea of difference will not be equated with deficit, a societal construct that blocks disabled people’s ability to enact change.

Zoe Partington is a contemporary visual artist who uses her experience of being partially blind and living with a chronic condition for over 50 years to create a unique, research-led perspective in her art. Curating a life less ordinary, using creative and contemporary techniques to challenge the distressed edge of life, Zoe shares a passion for equality, particularly in the creative industries. Zoe is a very experienced leader and consultant in her specialist field of cultural inclusion and accessible approaches. She develops installations, and viscerally powerful-audio visual and tactile representations of Disabled people’s journeys and experiences through landscapes and the built environment. Zoe has won several awards and scholarships. She is showing ‘Domestic Landscapes’ 2022 in Madrid and across the UK, funded by ONCE in Spain and Arts Council England. Fellow of the RSA