‘They showed me that disability is an ability’

A YOUNG Tallaght man recently held his first solo art exhibition in Tallaght Library, and he said his parents inspired him to reach this point in his art career.

Jason Grace Jnr, 25, who is from Old Bawn and has autism, said his parents Jason Grace Snr and Samantha Grace, who are members of the deaf community, have been instrumental in his success.

“My main inspiration is my parents,” Jason, who is a past pupil of TCS, told The Echo, “because of how they grew up and how unique they are.

“They showed me that disability isn’t a disability – it’s an ability. I’ve learned a lot from them.”

Back in 2016, Jason picked up a paintbrush and created some artwork in response to the death of a school friend, as a way of helping him to express his emotions about his grief. “I describe [becoming an artist] as being purely coincidental,” explained Jason.

“A friend I went to school with passed away, and I felt so angry about it. I painted it out and I got a sense of relief.

“I showed the painting to my grandad, and he saw something in it – I don’t know what – and said you have to continue with this, and I just loved it.”

Jason went on to develop his craft when he studied art in Greenhills College, from which he proudly graduated in 2020.

After graduating, he linked in with disability service WALK and the staff encouraged him to exhibit his vibrant and arresting artwork, which is influenced by comic books including Doctor Strange.

“I went to WALK, I was still continuing to paint, then I went into Tallaght Library just before Christmas and found out they did exhibitions,” said Jason.

“With WALK, they gave me the push and the confidence to ask the library if I could have an exhibition there.”

Jason secured permission from the library, and his dream of holding an art exhibition became a reality when he launched his exhibition in February.

Mayor Alan Edge helped to launch the exhibition, and Irish Sign Language interpreter Aoife Harrington was there to translate for the members of the deaf community in attendance.

“At first I was very hesitant about the exhibition,” said Jason, “but recently two people came up to me and said, ‘This work’s amazing, how do you do it?’

“I don’t know how I did it, my imagination just came to me. It’s like your mind is saying you’re amazing, and your heart is saying, ‘You’ve done it’, and they’re working together.”

The final day of the exhibition was on Tuesday, February 27, but the positive feedback Jason received has had a lasting impact.

“I feel very encouraged by it, and it’s given me a positive outlook,” he said. “Closing the exhibition is like finishing a book, you feel like you can move onto the next one.”

Jason’s next plan is for an exhibition at the RCSI in the city centre this summer, and the date of it is still to be decided. In the meantime, if you would like to keep up-to-date with Jason’s artwork you can follow him at @that_abstractguy98 on Instagram.