Central College welcomes the graphic memoir, “The Words He Cannot Say,” by Leo Bird, 2014 Central graduate, to the Mills Gallery beginning Monday, Nov. 4. Meet the artist at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, in the gallery during the artist’s reception.
Bird was diagnosed with autism at age three. He created the memoir to demonstrate how he overcame alienation and bullying, succeeded in a job search and learned from mistakes through the patient help of parents, teachers and classmates.
“From analyzing my past, I learned how I or someone else could have acted differently so the conflict could have had a better outcome,” Bird explains. “I write and draw to provide commentary on actions that my peers and I took in the past, without being influenced by any book, movie, author or genre. My work is life becoming art instead of art imitating life.”
Brian Roberts, professor of art and 1992 Central graduate, curated the exhibit to demonstrate alternative views on perspective, life and abilities.
“It’s great to welcome Leo back to campus and I think students will find value in how he utilizes the visual language of art to communicate about his personal journeys in life as an individual with autism,” Roberts says.
“I got the idea for ‘The Words He Cannot Say’ in an interview during the summer of 2013, between my junior and senior year at Central,” Bird remembers. “The interviewer suggested I could teach people about autism. I thought I could do that by using the true storytelling techniques I learned in my Writing Short Stories class. When I shared my stories, I learned that neurotypicals (people without autism) and even cats and dogs faced the same challenges fitting in as I did and found the topic interesting. I shifted the focus of my graphic memoir to fitting in, building talent and character and allowed ‘The Words He Cannot Say’ to lose the autism theme. This discovery further motivated me to write about my life.”
Bird began exhibiting art in 2021 at the Iowa State Fair and the Des Moines Public Library. His exhibit will be in the Mills Gallery until Friday, Dec. 6.
The Mills Gallery, Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts on Central’s campus, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The gallery curates exhibits throughout the academic year to expand opportunities for students to experience artistic styles and cultural interpretations.