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Wheelchair ballet underwater: it's more like flying than diving

Sue Austin in her electric wheelchair in the Red Sea: 'It is more like flying than diving and brings the most amazing sense of freedom.'

I started using a wheelchair in 1996 after an extended illness that affected my mobility. Later, when I first used an electric wheelchair, I felt an amazing sense of exhilaration at being free to speed through the streets, mobile again.

The idea for the underwater wheelchair came to me when I trained as a disabled diver in 2005, using fin gloves. I noticed that scuba equipment extends one's range of activity in the world, just as a wheelchair does.

 'Viewing the world from a different perspective enables people to have new experiences and break down boundaries.'

In the underwater wheelchair my body is completely supported and I have motors that give me an amazing range of movement. I can perform acrobatic manoeuvres, which many people have likened to an underwater ballet. The shape of each performance is improvised as I intuitively feel for the most expressive and graceful shapes that I can find in that moment.

Coming up with a new concept like this can be challenging, but it also creates the most unexpected, mind-expanding experiences. It has been a long and complex journey, at times requiring a great deal of patience and resilience from all involved, but humour has helped us to get through everything.

My film, web and live performances of the world's first underwater wheelchair culminated in a degree panoramic film installation 

page and beyond. They're realising that viewing the world from a different perspective enables them to have new experiences and break down boundaries for all of us.

In searching for an image that has the power to reshape preconceptions about the wheelchair, I have discovered an object that has the power to change me. It is more like flying than diving and brings the most amazing sense of freedom.

 © Lizarikk, All Rights Reserved    21.06.13.