ARTpath 2020 Artist | William Charland
Artist Bio
William Charland, associate professor emeritus at Western Michigan University, is an active visual artist, writer, and editor. Charland received BFA and MFA degrees from the University of Michigan, and a PhD from U.C. Berkeley. Charland has built community outreach programs in the art departments of Grand Valley State, MSU, and WMU.
Artist Statement
Speaking of his work William says “In my mid-60s, I started to suspect that I had lived with unrecognized autism for my entire life. I didn’t want to assume, without a clinical diagnosis, that I was autistic, so started to keep a journal of things I did and experienced that correlated with symptoms of autism. As the evidence gradually became overwhelming, I found a clinic, was tested, and diagnosed at age 68 with autism. This installation presents writings from my correlations journal, presented as a stream of consciousness that echoes the unexpected order of my insights.
Those who know little about autism can find this work interesting or entertaining. Those who experience autism will find themselves in it."