Uniform: An auto-theoretical reflection on agency and conformity within schooling institutions as an adolescent girl with ADHD
Uniform employs a combination of representational and abstract painting techniques, drawing, and repurposed school uniform textiles to research the interplay between gendered expectations, neuro-normative standards, agency, and forced conformity within the rigid structures of mainstream school environments. The research draws on my personal history as a woman with ADHD to explore my embodied experience navigating these compounding pressures throughout my primary and secondary education. I use an auto-theoretical approach, combining my lived experience with theory to gain a deeper understanding of ADHD, its female/AFAB symptomatology, the effects of patriarchal values in mainstream schooling on female/AFAB students, and the school uniform’s role in perpetuating gendered expectations. The materiality of the school uniform serves as a tactile and visual cue from my past that that enhances the auto-theoretical component of the research. Painting is used to incorporate imagery associated with the school uniform, classrooms, school grounds, and portraiture that emphasises my embodied ADHD experience in these contexts.
Christina Rankin (b.2001) is an emerging artist from Wonthaggi, now based in Naarm/Melbourne. She is currently completing the Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) (Honours) at RMIT University. Her creative practice draws upon lived experience, exploring her identity as a woman with ADHD, and the compounding impact of facing gendered and neuro-normative expectations throughout her primary and secondary education. Christina’s painting practice integrates refined figuration, gestural abstraction, and symbolic motifs. These elements converge within dynamic compositions, where detailed representation and intentional omissions create a tension that mirrors her personal narratives. The use of symbolism and abstraction allows her to communicate emotional truths in a visually evocative and multifaceted way. Recurring imagery such as chain link fences, school uniforms, and young women anchor her narratives, while the gestural elements evoke a raw immediacy. Christina’s work serves as both a personal outlet and an invitation for introspective reflection on these themes from the viewer.
