Elaine
Participatory Portrait
She was
incapable
Elaine grew up being underestimated. Because of her disability, other people kept deciding what kind of life was realistic for her, and made her ambition feel like the problem.
Elaine was born early and has hemiplegic cerebral palsy. For much of her life, people around her mistook physical disability for lack of intelligence, meeting her achievements with surprise rather than expectation. She was told she was doing “so well considering”, spoken about as if a “wee office job” was the limit of what she could hope for, and treated like someone who should not aim too high in case she broke.
Still, Elaine kept going. She learned to solve problems her own way, building a life around what worked for her rather than what worked for everyone else. That strength led her into work she loves as a database engineer in the charity sector, where she helps people use technology in ways that suit them. She is also studying for a master’s in engineering, with the aim of creating better software and solutions for the non-profit world.
Alongside ableism, she also felt the weight of being a woman who wanted more for herself. She was questioned for studying, discouraged from leaving home, and never truly encouraged to imagine a bigger life. Outside work, Elaine loves audiobooks, podcasts, video games, crafts and wheelchair sport, and she now lives in a way that shows younger people around her there is more than one way to build a good life.
THE DESTRUCTION
Fragile
About the Work
2026
Acrylic on canvas
I painted fractured glass across Elaine’s portrait to reflect the way she was treated as something delicate and breakable. The destroyed portrait speaks to the pressure placed on her to stay small, stay safe and not want too much, as though ambition itself was dangerous for a disabled woman.