Cork artist Moss Russell: 'I felt I had two options — go into politics or art'
Brian O’Mahony and Moss Russell in a scene from Uncouth.
Multi-disciplinary artist Moss Russell, who is neurodivergent with a diagnosis of autism and ADHD (AUDHD), says they want to be an agent for change. This Ballincollig-based parent of two children (who are also neurodivergent) has written a play with their partner, Brian O’Mahony, which they will both perform at the Disrupt Disability Arts Festival, taking place at the Project Arts Centre in Dublin.
The play (Russell’s third) explores the unspoken rules that shape social occasions. Using circus, the audience will be taken “on an absurd journey examining how politeness can feel like you’re playing an impossible game with no instructions”.
Russell, who also identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, says it’s frustrating trying to raise children without the support they require.
“I felt I had to do something about it. I had two options — go into politics or art. I don’t think I’d be suited to politics. With art, you can educate and entertain.”
It was a performance at Cork’s Circus Factory about 14 years ago that made a big impact on Russell. “I couldn’t believe what was happening. I walked into the building and saw all these people on the stage who refused to grow up. They were so wild and playful, strong and funny. I thought ‘this is what I want.’ I was raising small kids at the time. I joined a hula hoop class at Circus Factory and within a year I was teaching it.”
Russell, 38, found their place in the world, writing and performing. But it hasn’t been easy for this Ballyhea-reared artist.
“Growing up, I would have done dance classes and speech and drama. When you’re living rurally, you rely on whatever rolls into town. I hoped the arts would be my career. In primary school (Scoil Mhuire na Trocaire in Buttevant), I was lucky to be in a small class and did quite well there. But when I got to secondary school (St Marys in Charleville), there was less support and more expected of you. I used to bawl my eyes out every day and have meltdowns.
"I used to wish that I would get horribly sick so that people would be compassionate towards me. It’s not that I wasn’t getting any support. It’s just that I felt so different from everyone around me. I grew up at a time when conditions like autism were not talked about much.”
Russell says it was at UCC, studying music and English in first year, that things really fell apart. “I only did first year. There’s maybe three reasons to stay at university. You must know what you want to do at the end of it, you must like the course content, and you should make friends at university. I had none of those. But then I was very lucky to meet my partner. We had a baby immediately. He’s the love of my life.”
As well as meeting their soulmate, Russell, who was only diagnosed with AUDHD six years ago, found solace in literature, particularly Philip Pullman’s trilogy. They had a fear of eternity and the dark. But the books gave Russell a way of thinking that was less overwhelming.
They say it took them a lot longer to “learn how to make friends, how to interact and how to be professional. I’m still learning.”
Russell says it’s “quite sad” that people have to fall apart to be seen by a professional who can give them a diagnosis. “I think that’s how a lot of adults get identified [as having neurodivergency]. It’s because the medical model of disability is completely deficit-based. It only looks at what is wrong and that’s why people are missed for so long.”
While they are happy to have a diagnosis, Russell says they find it hard to sleep at night because of an overly active brain in the quiet hours.
Now in its third year, the Disrupt Disability Arts Festival is billed as one of the country’s most progressive and inclusive arts festivals that celebrates the richness of disabled lived experience through art, while reshaping perceptions of disability. Russell is proud to be part of it.
“Access to participate in the arts is a human right under the UNCRPD [United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities] which Ireland recently ratified. Yet the focus on inclusion still continues to focus mostly on viewership. Disrupt Festival represents an important space where disabled artists can be hired and participate in it.”
- Disrupt Disability Arts Festival is on from March 5-7. disruptfestival.ie
