Birdie Gerhl creates “soft body horror”—a mythology of monsters that live on the “Body Farm.” Using mixed media images and sculpture, Birdie pieces together a Mad gaze: a way of seeing that encompasses what some might call a combination of autism, gender dysphoria, and PTSD. This lens of “Madness” reframes Birdie’s experiences with awe, humour, and hope in a way that exists outside of medical models, and affirms that Madness is not a pathology, but an invitation to pursue unexpected futures.

“Body Farm” is a multi-sensory experience that can also be explored in physical spaces though touch and audio. Accessibility features such as tactile sculpture and audio description are intrinsic to the world of the “Body Farm,” affectionately asserting that, like Mad-positivity, accessible arts practices are a doorway to vibrant new worlds.

Birdie lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and is a 2017 graduate of Visual and Creative Arts at Sheridan College. In 2019, Birdie was awarded the Won Lee Fellowship and the Intergenerational LGBT Artist Residency, and exhibited her first solo show, “Body Farm”, with Tangled Art + Disability. Birdie was a participant of Centre[3]’s 2021 Emerging Artist Residency and showed a new solo exhibit of “Body Farm” at Hamilton Artists Inc. in spring of 2023.