Lea Mariella (Brinon) (She/Her)
Léa Mariella is a Documentary Photographer and Masters student in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy.
From her own experiences of physical limitations, Léa’s practice currently focuses on the definition of ‘the body’ in a political and cultural context.
Léa’s master’s dissertation project examines medical ableism as critical contemporary issue negatively impacting on the lives of individuals with disabilities.
Specifically, Léa’s project developed on the endemic barriers women and non binary individuals with visual impairments face accessing Sexual Health Care as intersection between gender, sexuality and disability.
Léa’s research interests include disability studies, trauma informed care, and the integration of Assistive technologies for individuals with Visual Impairments based on a co-design approach to provide efficient design responses by directly listening to and including the individuals concerned.
As a photographer and medical visualisation graduate, Léa aims to combine critical theoretical knowledge gained throughout academic research with documentary photography practice to represent, listen to and include the experiences and lives of individuals with disabilities as promising tool to challenge normative social biases.
You Check : Master’s dissertation project
My master’s project focused on ableism in medical practice, which refers to discriminatory behaviours individuals with disabilities face accessing fair medical care, negatively impacting on their well-being and overall health.
More precisely, my project aimed to listen to and collect the experiences of women and non binary individuals with visual impairments accessing Sexual health care in Scotland, as no current research is available on the topic.
The project resulted in an online application named ‘You Check’, providing accessible information on STIs ( Sexually Transmissible Infections) available via Voice Control, Keyboard Shortcuts and Mouse clicks with mouse tracker.
Integrating skills from my BA in photography and illustration to my project was extremely rewarding and proved helpful designing animated visuals for the supporting videos presenting my project and the application, which, in return, aim to communicate and introduce viewers of all backgrounds to the consequences of medical ableism on the individual, and the importance of co-design in research to provide practical solutions suited to the individuals’ needs.
Thank you to Sight Scotland, The Glasgow Women’s Library and The Sandyford for their support and guidance.
Medical Ableism and Access to Sexual Health Care amongst Women with Visual Impairments
Presentation video for the following Master's project in Medical Visualisation and Human Anatomy by Léa Mariella (Brinon) : ‘How do women / individuals with a vagina (referring to non-binary individuals) with visual impairments in Scotland face medical ableism in accessing sexual health care, and how can digital technologies such as an online application assist in providing accessible information on Sexually Transmissible Infections, crucial to sexual health and well-being?’
"You Check" Application Demo
The following video guides the viewer through the application content and functionalities such as Voice Control, Keyboard Shortcut and Mouse Clicks with mouse tracker. The application was designed using C sharp coding on Unity and follows Web Content Accessible Guidelines and Assistive technologies functionalities adapted to individuals with Visual Impairments.
Examples of digital illustrations generated and used within the application
Project Ability : Artist in Residency
In August 2019, I had the chance to be an Artist
in Residency at Project Ability Studios in Glasgow.
Through my time there, I got the opportunity to meet and collaborate closely with talented artists and document their unique creative processes.
I also listened and recorded their experiences with physical disabilities and/ or mental distress, and how the action of crafting alleviated personal symptoms of both a physical and psychological nature.
The project provided a personal enriching experience, resulting in a series of photographic portraits as well as moving image.
This project motivated my undergraduate dissertation topic on disability, trauma and the art.
This was followed by my most recent Master’s project focusing on the consequences of medical ableism on the individual.
Project ability website:
http://project-ability.co.uk
Artist’s pages:
Four Artists and their relationship to making
Moving Image, August 2019. Documentary piece following Four Artists using varied creative processes at Project ability studios. The following piece is a collaboration between : Peter Stewart, SooJa C. Massey, John McNaught and Linda Tulloch.
Medical Illustration and Interaction Portfolio
using software such as Unity, Z brush, 3Dsmax, Slicer, Adobe photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere pro as well as traditional notebooks sketches.
Interactive Application on Inner Female Anatomy and Ovulation Process
The aim of the application is to introduce the user to an interactive platform visualising the inner parts of the female anatomy and the ovulation process suitable to a large audience (young adults 12+ years) aimed for personal and/or educative use. The topic was chosen as a response from embedded sexism and misconceptions on female (inner) anatomy as perpetuated online and observed within medical teaching.
