Faculty of Art

Drawing and Painting

Luna Bloom

Pumura Brain Self Portrait

This work is uncovering and destigmatizing the experience of autism through celebrating how “Pumura brain” is affecting Luna Pumura’s senses of sound, sight, and body in space. The horns, ears, and wings are part of her personal mythology.

“My work is uncovering and destigmatizing the experience of autism through celebrating how my senses of sound, sight, and body-in-space are affected by it. I use my Pumura a lot to demonstrate this in my work. They are an alien creature I made up that reflects me by behaviour - sometimes they are playful and strong, and other times they are helpless. I can paint myself with Pumura ears, wings, horns, and in colour purple to show my Pumura-ness, but I also put the environments and objects through that filter to show how my senses affect my surroundings. My work can take on the form of paintings as well as sculptures and wearable objects for performances, since art is how I can communicate things that I cannot verbally.”