ABOUT THE ARTIST

The experience of my limbs moving on their own, my back arching when I want it to be straight, hearing my vocal cords make whimpers and cries in an otherwise quiet room and my own resulting discomfort forces me to consider the point of view of others who watch me twitch and writhe. Despite the pain these movements cause, much of the difficulty I face is in information space. The disabled body is in a constant state of surveillance, not by CCTV but by every person who encounters it. I take up more metaphysical space, I inhabit a larger sphere of influence because I cannot be discreet. My brain, which often gets separated from the force that is me and from the body we inhabit, won't process information correctly and so that information gets expressed as a movement. It leaves the realm of electric signals for a brief moment before being re-coded into someone’s memory, or if they're so inclined, the internet. My work deals with this transfer of information and seeks to externalize the experience of lost control. Building off of the electric aspect of this experience, I utilize abstraction and imagery associated with science fiction as modes through which I can scrutinize codes of conduct, and what it means for someone’s existence to subvert them. Within my work sweeping forms reminiscent of plants or ancient life-forms are combined with computational and medical equipment to draw connections between the body, digital technology, and the records both leave behind.

Al Gatta is a visual artist and painter born and raised in NYC. Motivated by their experiences living with a chronic neuropsychiatric illness, they primarily make work that attends to notions of bodily autonomy in the contemporary age and the evolving relationship between tech and humanity. Al has exhibited work at the CUE Art Foundation and more recently at the Westbeth Gallery in NYC. They are currently working towards a BFA in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. When not in school they live and work in NYC.