Mikell’s work cites sources such as hierarchy, labour, symbiosis, ecosystems and the role of institutions. Mikell cogitates her youth reared in Waldorf, a pedagogical community founded on the spiritualist movement of Anthroposophy. She inspects the moral inadequacy assigned to disability in this environment, including her experience with the Anthroposophic movement and language form Eurythmy. Mikell repurposes the historical semiotics used in Eurythmy, which are posited to have curative effect, to vocalise the legitimacy of disabled communities.
over the past few years Mikell has developed an ongoing project called U-Shapes, a connected series of intermedial works that utilise distinct semiotic visuals to identify, upend and communicate the inaccessibility that disabled people navigate in conventional social environments.
in production, Mikell evaluates the history of material. She locates supplies entirely from sources that interrupt the sequence of consumption and disposal, emphasising upcycled, salvaged, and repurposed materials. Subverting performative exceptionalism and aesthetic focus has directed Mikell to reflect on how accessibility and sustainability often conflict. Her work intends to question how we might practise sustainability and conservation without relying on exclusion and exceptionalism.
Jade MIkell’s work has been featured in solo exhibits, group shows and in the homes of collectors internationally.
