A high school junior is taking it upon herself to correct a wrong.

Or maybe enlighten those around her for decades of oversight.

Hillcrest High junior Ada Wood is an artist—in her writing and in her digital artwork. Her creations have a common theme: inclusivity.

“I want to be able to catch someone’s eye with a drawing or with my words, and I want them to be able to see them represented, with different abilities that I’ve drawn or written,” she said. “I wouldn’t be able to catch their eye if they’re unable to see themselves in my work.”

Wood began creating digital art when she first got an iPad after her family moved to Midvale in 2019.

“I’ve always been creative; I loved coloring books, and I used to want to be a fashion designer. My friend and I made a dress together. We pinned a paper rendition on her, and we wanted to sew it, but it was lopsided and had a hole in the shoulder. It was like one the little drawings of dresses that I used to do when I was 4—it needed a lot of help, but it was fun to do,” she said.

Now, Wood studies YouTube tutorials and has taken an online art class to learn some tricks in digital art. She looks at the artwork of Brandon Dorman, an American illustrator of children’s and teenagers’ books, and of characters created by anime artists.

“I like digital art. It’s easier for me. I can scale what I want, make it bigger, smaller and readjust it easily. I can’t do that on paper without erasing it. I have a vision before I start, because then I can get the poses and the color palette right, but then, I don’t think a lot when I draw. I just want to draw whatever I want and whatever I feel like needs to be drawn,” she said. 

Already, Wood has a series of drawings, each with a character who has a differing ability. She calls the series, “This is Me.”

The inspiration came from an interaction she had her freshman year at Hillcrest when Wood, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, was being shown around the school. The teacher asked two seniors to join her. 

“One of the seniors said, ‘It must suck to be in a wheelchair.’ And I was like, ‘No, it doesn’t. It gives me accessibility.’ She wasn’t meaning it in a mean way. She was just not thinking it through. When I got home, it made me think, ‘Is that how people see me?’ It made me think, ‘Why isn’t there representation? Why isn’t there people in movies or books or media with differing abilities because I had never seen a character in a wheelchair.’ That’s why I started this series. I wanted to draw people with differing abilities in ways that they’re capable of magic. Because they are. All people are capable of figurative magic and incredible things, and I wanted to showcase that,” she said.

The first piece, “Light of the World,” has a girl sitting in a wheelchair in a rich, lush forest. The girl is looking at a glowing water lily as a hummingbird, deer, wolf and a couple of butterflies watch.

“I kind of modeled this off myself. It has a magical feel as I’ve always been into magic. I’ve always loved the forest; my spirit loves the outdoors. The animals are comfortable in her presence, and I wanted to focus on her spirit and how when we’re sometimes alone, you can feel most alive and show your true self,” Wood said. “I didn’t want this to be a drawing showing ‘you’re broken, and you can’t do this or that.’ What I want is for people to see who you are and your true abilities. When I drew this, I knew there would be others. I wanted to draw someone who was deaf, somebody who was blind, someone who had a prosthetic, because I didn’t want to leave anybody out.”

It was followed by another magical piece focusing on a blind mermaid. 

“I asked myself ‘What is she like? How does she communicate? How does she get around?’ I included dolphins in the drawing because I thought if a mermaid was born blind, some of her friends would be dolphins and she would learn echolocation from them,” she said. “I want the series to show differing abilities, which we don’t really see. As a fantasy lover, I’ve always kind of wished for maybe a blind mermaid or a girl in a wheelchair with magic in a movie. About 15% of the population is born with differing abilities and seeing themselves in art, and having some magical connections, they can relate in a far more personal way.”

Wood has painted a character who is in the clouds as if he has magical powers to control the wind. The character, who is deaf, wears a T-shirt with the sign “Born for This.” Another piece, “Ready, Aim, Release,” has a character who has a prosthetic arm hunting in the forest.

“I find him inspiring; I’m going to write a story to go with him,” she said. “I thought of a bunch of stories that kind of go with my characters in one way or another, but they’re not all connected.”

Wood recently drew a skateboarder with a prosthetic leg showing he’s “doing something that just everybody can do.”

“It was hard. This one took me forever because I’ve never drawn a skatepark or a prosthetic leg and those are very detailed. It took me out of my comfort zone,” she said, adding that her 12-year-old brother agreed to pose as a skateboarder for her. “He’s incredible to do that. He’s a very sweet brother.”

Most of the paintings have taken Wood about two weeks to produce. However, one—a girl in a wheelchair with a dragon—she’s been working on for months. She promised it to her uncle.

Wood’s artwork is created through the program, Procreate, and sometimes, she uses Clip Studio Paint to look at various poses.

For last year’s school PTA Reflections entry, Wood tried something new, a printmaking style to follow the theme, “Show Your Voice.” The poster, which shows youth of differing abilities, displays the words, “Different Not Less,” borrowing the book title from one of the world’s most accomplished adults with autism, author Temple Grandin.

“I was showing people who often don’t get a voice,” she said. “Not everyone looks the same and it’s time we can see different abilities being portrayed whether in a movie, book, art, crosswalk sign, words we choose, stories we read, in all aspects of life.”

Wood also is in the process of writing a book, “Assassin’s Heart,” about an assassin in a quandary about needing to kill a young woman to save his mother, but instead he falls in love with the young woman. Wood plans to illustrate it. Once again, the characters are those of differing abilities.

“I don’t usually find stories with people who are like me or have differing abilities. Most of the books I’ve heard of or read are with people with differing abilities have been healed in some kind of way, which I’m not a big fan of. It’s not usually based on reality, and implies, something is ‘wrong,’” she said.

When Wood isn’t studying in class or being creative, she often is being active in Hillcrest’s Husky Unified Club and as a state member of Special Olympics Youth Activation Commission, again, “being a voice to include everyone.”

She credits her mother as her “biggest supporter.”

“Not only does she take care of me, but she also pushes me to get out there to do what I want to do. I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. I love being able to create and being able to use my talents to help other people,” Wood said. “I love the life I have been given, but I would be nothing without her. She’s amazing.”

Wood hopes that through her art people take notice in all aspects of life and make changes to become more inclusive.

“My art is how I see the world; it sends a message,” she said. “My goal is to be a voice to those who don’t have the chance to speak up or maybe feel like they can’t. My dream is that my stories and my art say, ‘We’re different.’ Everybody is different. What makes a community work is our differences and the different talents and dreams and professions of everybody, no matter if they’re on wheels or walking.” λ