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My name is Melissa Kirkman and I'm a 20 year old from Adelaide, South Australia. I have autism and mosaic down syndrome and I feel as though there is no limit to what I can do if I put my mind to it. Every day I face many challenges and I have always found that creating art and painting allows me to relax and forget about these challenges for a while. This has helped me believe in myself more allowing me to reach some outstanding achievements. Including a finalist place in the SA Youth Art Awards 2021, SALA Festival exhibition 2021, Inclusive Arts show 2021, Tutti Arts exhibitions last 3 years and sold 1 painting. In 2020 I started a small t-shirt business using my own paintings called Kirkman by Melissa Kirkman.
My painting is of a woman in the spirit world looking for something to help her cope with her emotions and problems. She is sitting down meditating in a yoga pose, which I like to do at home to help me feel relaxed and happy. I painted her on a nice, sunny day because the sun feels like joy and freedom to me which is also how meditating feels. I chose to paint this because I love to meditate and I wanted to show people how great it is. I have autism and meditating makes me feel calm, happy and like I can face my problems. I do it when I am angry, annoyed, frustrated or sad and it always makes me feel better. I want everyone who sees this painting to feel relaxed and try meditating if they haven't before.