Disabled artist advocate Ava Jolliffe turns spotlight on "Facial Awareness" in her own city exhibition

Teenager Ava Jolliffe won a prestigious prize in Preston's Harris open art exhibition earlier this year and now has a full exhibition of her work for sale in a city cafe.
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A young artist is celebrating having her own exhibition in Preston

Ava Jolliffe's work is on show at the Preston Larder cafe on Lancaster Road until August 15.

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The 14 year old from Broughton, who is disabled, says the exhibition is especially important because she wants people to respect her art, irrespective of her disability.

Ava pictured in the Larder cafe         Photo: Neil CrossAva pictured in the Larder cafe         Photo: Neil Cross
Ava pictured in the Larder cafe Photo: Neil Cross

The show, entitled 'Facial Awareness' , is also important because it is a reminder of the importance of people's expressions when communicating. The pictures on display tell their own story, with the public invited to provide their own titles.

Ava's mum Laura said: "It's about strong women and strong facial expressions. It's important to her that people have these expressions, being deaf and being very severely visually impaired she relies very heavily on people's facial expressions to understand a story. She needs to be able to access people's facial expressions and their lip patterns."

Ava has the rare degenerative condition, BVLT ( Brown Vialetto Van Laere syndrome), also known as Riboflavin transporter deficiency.

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Her disabilities mean the production of her digital artwork, which is reproduced on canvas, is demanding. Ava uses her fingers to draw and works with an iPad Pro. Laura said: "She has to hugely pixellate everything and work with a small area at a time."

Art work by Ava Jolliffe from the exhibition 'Facial Awareness'Art work by Ava Jolliffe from the exhibition 'Facial Awareness'
Art work by Ava Jolliffe from the exhibition 'Facial Awareness'

Prices for the art works range from £35 to £100.

Ava is determined to be an advocate for disabled artists.

* Earlier this year Ava, who attends Sir Tom Finney Community High School in Preston, won the Public Vote (people's choice) prize for her entry in the Harris Open Art exhibition entitled Gossip Girls.

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