Meet the Artist

Matana

Geraghty

Mixed Media Art

“The aim of this research is to convey the experiences of people with Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD). The significance of the Research Project is to the NVLD community, as well as the wider society. To society, the research will help bring recognition and understanding of NVLD experiences as lived truth. This validation may aid in reconsidering requirements for an official diagnosis in the DSM-5 and the IDEA. Since the data collection will be analyzed using art therapy criterion, it can be considered a therapeutic tool to acknowledge safety, significance, and belonging in NVLD patients. By acknowledging their lived truth and giving them a voice through art, the contribution aids in securing the mental health of individuals with NVLD. This will have a wider, positive impact on the health care system securing the need for self-actualization, and self-esteem in this population. My professional goal is to be known as an ethnographic artist; to help make known to others, the culture of a particular group through art. My interests are focused primarily on marginalized populations or those who have no voice. This project helps to build my professional portfolio in that regard. Similarly, my scholarly goal is to begin having my research published in Art or Cross-Disciplinary Journals. ”

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Matana Joelle Geraghty (she/her) is a Mixed Media artist based in Toronto, Canada. Completing her Master’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Arts Media and Design at OCAD University, she is continuing to create a voice through art practice for those with special needs, disabilities, and other challenges.As an individual diagnosed with Epilepsy and with brothers diagnosed with Autism, Matana Joelle Geraghty feels compelled to tell a story of trials and pain, that ultimately lead to perseverance and unfailing love. She believes that every family has a chance to be happy with each other, and that every individual’s story makes them stronger than before. She strives to speak of everlasting love - not to mask the pain and sorrow of past events, but to erase and replace them, and to move forward with a positive attitude. Matana's mission in her work is to let viewers know that things do get better, no matter how bleak it may seem. Her work speaks about many events in her life, both negative and positive ones.
OCAD U - Graduate Studies
Interdisciplinary Master's in Art, Media and Design (MA, MDes and MFA)
Major Completed, 2021
Seneca College
Master's Certificate in Non-Profit and Social Sector Management
Major Completed, 2019
University of Toronto
Honours Bachelor of Art | Psychology | Media Studies
Major Completed, 2018

Mixed Media Art

2018, ArtSideOut
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2018, The Second Movement
D'Arcy Symposium (Maison D'Art)
2018, House(hold)
Doris McCarthy Gallery
2018, One Night
D'Arcy Symposium (Maison D'Art)
2018, That's Enough!
Artscape Youngplace
2018, This is Where We're Going
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2018, Pre and Post: A Message To My Pre-Digital Self
Artscape Youngplace
2018, International Health Film Series and Expo: 'Faceless'
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2018, Shelley Peterson Art Exhibition
Art Museum at University of Toronto
2018, International Health Film Series and Expo: 'Unarmed Verses'
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2018, UTSC Juried Art Exhibition
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2017, Animacy and Intimacy
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2017, ArtSideOut
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2017, Do What You Love
Yonge-Dundas Square
2016, ArtSideOut
University of Toronto - Scarborough Campus
2017, Ontario Volunteer Service Awards
Government of Ontario
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