Interview: Lennie from DYSPLA on Neurodivergent Aesthetics Exhibition
We caught up with Lennie from Saatchi Gallery Artist of the Future Prize Winners 2025, DYSPLA, to talk about their lates exhibition coming to Greenwich in April 2026.
Neurodivergent Aesthetics | Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Greenwich | 10 April-6 May 2026 | Free
Tell us about Neurodivergent Aesthetics — what should visitors expect?
Neurodivergent Aesthetics are, by their very nature, diverse. We think of the term as art made by neurodivergent people, inspired by nonconformist cognition, and as a way to illuminate connections between neurodivergence and creativity.
Visitors should expect a large-scale installation made from digital artworks donated by British neurodivergent artists and reprinted by DYSPLA on billboard paper. The exhibition brings together a wide range of voices and visual approaches, asking whether neurodivergence influences artistic methodology, taste and aesthetics. Ultimately, it invites audiences to reflect on difference — if it can be seen, and if it can, whether a shared “neurodivergent aesthetic” exists.
The exhibition will take place at Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London, from April–May 2026, and will include a powerful retrospective of over 100 digital artefacts of work made by neurodivergent artists as well as a large body of original works by DYSPLA. We will also be exhibiting a collection of digital artworks, as well as an interactive exhibit run by DYSPLA’s Kazimir Bielecki; here the public may participate in making new sculptural artworks, and other neurodivergent artists may use the space for practice and contemplation. Alongside the installation, the programme will include panel discussions, roundtable debates, free workshops and public conversations with leading neurodivergent artists, academics, curators and critical peers.
What inspires you to curate work from neurodiverse artists?
Through this residency we have been given a platform — and with it an opportunity to champion the community of neurodivergent artists we have spent years building relationships with as part of our DYSPLA_chat initiative.
Many of these artists have been contributing to conversations around neurodivergence, creativity and disability aesthetics for a long time, and they still deserve greater recognition for their talents and perspectives. Curating this work allows us to bring those voices together in one space and expand the conversation around neurodivergent aesthetics within contemporary art.
Who are your biggest artistic influences?
We are inspired by many neurodivergent practitioners who are pushing the conversation forward through their work. Artists such as Benedict Phillips, Richard Butchins, Katherine Hewlett, Lindsey Seers, Jon Adams, Aby Watson, Nim Folb, Jim Rokos, Emma Robdale and Sonia Boué, among others, have helped shape the contemporary neurodivergent art movement.
Their practices demonstrate how lived experience, cognition and identity can inform artistic methodology and creative output. They are important voices in exploring how neurodivergence might manifest aesthetically.
What advice would you give to neurodivergent artists starting their journey?
It’s crucial to learn from each other — community is invaluable. Building relationships with other neurodivergent artists creates opportunities for collaboration, support and shared knowledge.
I would also encourage neurodivergent artists to trust their instincts. Spend time examining where your innate urge to create comes from and follow that curiosity. Your way of thinking and experiencing the world is not a limitation — it can be a powerful source of artistic identity and inspiration.
We run a programme called DYSPLA_chat, where existing and emerging neurodivergent artists can do just that. We meet in small groups over Zoom or in-person on the first Sunday of each month to discuss neurodivergent creativity, current projects and best ways for ND Folk to develop and advance their creative practice.
What are your favourite London haunts?
Artists don’t really have “free time”, so our haunts tend to be our workspaces and galleries.
That said, lately we’ve been spending a fair amount of time at the Edmonton EcoPark Reuse and Recycling Centre. In terms of unexpected culture and inspiration, it’s probably our favourite place in London right now — a space full of discarded materials, possibilities, characters, colours, and strange visual combinations that can spark new ideas.
I am Joint Editor at To Do List. I like free, cheap & offbeat London, especially: cabaret, art, theatre, pop-ups, eating out, quirky films, museums, day trips, social enterprise & much more.
