Self-portrait as human black swan: audio description

Arts House Listening Program

(Self-portrait as human black swan): What is assumed, what is expected, what is invisible, what is very clear: the air is more buzzy, things feel more expansive, there’s a lightness to the air molecules and a depth of feeling. A human with autism, or an autism with human, or a swan with hands? I’m definitely something… A drawing of a black swan. It is set in a brown rectangular frame approximately arms length by ¾ arm height. It is lying on its back with human arms in place of where its little feet would usually be. Proportionally the arms are the same size as the neck of the swan. At the base of each arm are three human fingers. The right arm rests on the crooked elbow of its left arm. The fingers that wrap around this elbow appear webbed, mimicking the shape of a swan's foot. The left hand hangs by the swan's feathery bottom. It is rigid in position, with each of the three fingers separated. The swan's feathers have black and white shaded patterning that start from the base of its neck. The feathery pattern transforms into soft rolls, reminiscent of folds of thin dough or reems of small thick material. The human arms in place of the swan’s legs are outlines, with no shading inside of them. The swan's face is at an angle. We are privy only to one side where a red-coloured eye looks beadily out.