Feminist Disability as Performative Cultural Practice

Authors

  • Pam Patterson

Abstract

My research creation practice (Patterson) generates aesthetic forms and strategies for seeing-feeling-thinking-making. Through “performatives,” I reveal—but do not necessarily resolve—the potential entanglements found with/in feminist disability theory, as I perform often capricious configurations. Feminist disability theory invites me to complicate and expand my understandings and allows me to enter spaces as body and in theory.

Author Biography

Pam Patterson

Dr. Pam Patterson is Assistant Professor, OCAD University. She leads Art & Design Education Lab in the Faculty of Art, co-leads Creative Research Inclusive Practices (CRIP) Lab and directs 113Research, a research creation curatorial/interpretive educational student mentoring gallery. At WIA projects, a feminist-inspired, community-based program, she supports emerging artists, curators, and educators. She is also a research fellow, Master’s in Art Education, NSCAD University. As a queer disability artist, Patterson has exhibited and performed across Canada and internationally.

Canadian Woman Studies, les cahiers de la femme, volume 38, numbers 1 and 2. A York University Publication, Articles, Poetry, Art, Book reviews, for the feminist reader. Visionary Feminisms 1. Guest editors: Leigh Brownhill, Angela Miles, Kimberly Todd, Njoki WaneThe cover shows a painting of a woman dressed in read and wearing a headscarf, surrounded by bright yellow stars. She is facing left and has one arm outstretched as though she is flying.

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Published

2026-06-18

How to Cite

Patterson, P. (2026). Feminist Disability as Performative Cultural Practice. Canadian Woman Studies Les Cahiers De La Femme, 38(1,2), 81. Retrieved from https://cws.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/cws/article/view/37954

Issue

Vol. 38 No. 1,2 (2026): Visionary Feminisms I

Section

Feminist Activism: Past, Present, Future