Roberto Picciau

“I map infinitely intricate worlds of (autistic) consciousness…”

As a multidisciplinary artist, I use drawing, video, embroidery, costume, sound, and performance to question the pathologization of processes of neurodivergent sensemaking such as stimming, and to facilitate a deeper understanding of the significance of elements such as vibration, duration, and repetition.

As a child I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and moved from my birthplace of Sardinia to the UK. During this time my mother told me that my brain "fails to maintain (synaptic) bridges," which shaped my interest in invisible forms of disabled communication and integration.

Solitude is essential to my practice, providing the space and rhythm needed to decompress sensory overwhelm. Each piece embodies a cumulative journey of returning moments, built over hundreds of sittings, representing a cognitive search for coherence.

2018-2020: University of York, York, UK. MA Social Work.

2017 - Zabludowicz Collection Master Class.

2009-2012: University of Teesside, Middlesbrough, UK. BA Fine Art.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

March 2022: ‘One-Time-Offer’, The NewBridge Project, The Shieldfield Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne.

October 2013: ‘Possibly Digress’, Dundas House, Middlesbrough.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

August 2023 - September 2023: ‘Artworks Together 2023’, Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham.

April 2023: ‘Now That’s What I Call Art 2’, Newcastle Contemporary Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne.

November 2021 - January 2022: ‘Ten Years’, Platform-A Gallery, Middlesbrough.

May 2019: ‘Pop Up’, Platform-A Gallery, Middlesbrough.

March 2019 - August 2019: ‘Beyond Graduation’, The Crown Street Gallery in Darlington, The Heritage Gallery in Middlesbrough, and the Saabat Gallery in South Bank.

September 2016: - ‘The Manchester Contemporary‘, Old Granada Studios, Manchester.

March 2015: 'Grounded', Platform-A Gallery, Middlesbrough.

November 2014: ‘Static Flux’ Dundas House, Middlesbrough.

July 2014: ‘Scrap’, Python Gallery, Middlesbrough.

September 2012: 'Show Us Your Art', Middlesbrough Institute for Modern Art, Middlesbrough.

May 2012 - June 2012: 'Shark Fin Soup', Teesside University, Middlesbrough.