To read the talk script check out the notes, here is a link to the source file: http://bit.ly/mfgink-coping-talk This deck is for talks about coping, and the way it is portrayed in my series of paintings, "Stages, in public". The script for the talk is in the notes. Coping is a broad category of behavior that covers how we humans deal with loss. Kubler-Ross has one of the most well-known models for describing the process; she breaks it down in the stages of Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Most frequently, these are referred to as the stages of grieving. Typically, we are taught this model as linear, which is to say that we enter after trauma or “negatively perceived change” and exit upon acceptance. The reality for those with disabilities is that it bears more resemblance to a circle; it is a cyclical process that, due to the chronic fluctuations of the disability, is iterative and perpetual. Grieving is most often associated with death and mourning but can be applied to a much broader field of coping; divorce, unemployment, relocation. Many of us are performing the work of grieving in an unstructured way across multiple layers of our lives at any given time. Further, there is a perception that the stages are progressive; one moves steadily through the five phases and one's work is done. Typically, we resolve these things, make adjustments, or are able to otherwise move on and continue to put distance between us and the cause. In the lives of people living with chronic conditions, disabilities, and other permanent changes or impairments, this process is an on-going one that will never reach some final resolution. In the case of disability, a person needs to not only deal with the medical impact of the impairment on her or his life, but also the additional social, political, and economic consequences that accompany living in a world that is structured around the needs of nondisabled individuals.

1. Stages, in Public
A series on coping

2. Stages, in Public 2014
This is a series of paintings
modeled around the Kubler-
Ross stages of grieving and
living with disability.
It addresses the
deformative, non-medical
effect that dealing in a daily
dose with loss has on an
individual.

3. Artist's Statement

4. Artist's Statement
Kubler-Ross Model for the Stages of Grief

5. Judith Butler
Philosopher and Gender
Theorist, developed
theory of “gender
performativity”
Books
● Gender Trouble:
Feminism & the
Subversion of
Identity
● Bodies that Matter:
On the Discursive
Limits of Sex
Simi Linton
Author and disability
studies theorist,
founded National
Coalition on Sexuality
and Disability.
Books
● My Body Politic
● Claiming
Disability
Artist's Statement

6. Disability & Passing
Tells the story of the role of
identity in disability history
through a diverse collection of
essays ranging from polio,
menstruation, mental illness,
and sports.
How it impacts:
● Self Image
● Roles/Fictions
● Social Context
● Change
● Dependency
Artist's Statement

7. "Impostor" (denial), 2014
36”x48”, spray paint and marker on canvas

8. "Staying" (anger), 2014
36”x48”, oil and marker on canvas

9. "Forms in black and white" (bargaining), 2014
36”x48”, spray paint and marker on canvas

10. "Leaving" (depression), 2014
36”x48”, oil and marker on canvas

11. "Tomato" (acceptance), 2014
36”x48”, oil on canvas

12. Some current series and projects:
● Stages in Public: http://bit.ly/stages-in-public
● The “Normate Gaze” proposal:
http://bit.ly/normategaze
● Deviant Art Portfolio: http://mfgink.deviantart.com/
● Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthewgilboy
● Tumblr: http://mfg.tumblr.com/
● Twitter: https://twitter.com/mfgink
History of pieces and work:
● Fiscal Sponsorship 2014: Fractured Atlas for the
“Normate Gaze” Series
● Misc. Pieces in Friends’ Collections, No Museums or
Galleries, Few Showings
● Juried: Annual Student Juried Exhibition 2004,
McDonough Museum of Art, OH, recipient of Starr
Award
● Lecture: OSU, 2008 - On the significance of copyright
& when to use CC licensing
● Recent displays: Chicago Diner, Pancakes and Booze
Connect with me

13. Referenced Works:
1. Butler, Judith. Gender trouble feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge, 1999. Print.
2. Linton, Simi. Claiming disability knowledge and identity. New York: New York University Press, 1998. Print.
3. Brune, Jeffrey A.. Disability and passing: blurring the lines of identity. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2013. Print.