Gerry-Tucker, Kimberly

Kim is an artist, poet, and published author. Her art work Shattered Mirror was featured on the cover of Artism: The Art of Autism, by Debra Hosseini. Kim has written a book about her life titled Under the Banana Moon: A True Story of Living, Loving, Loss and Asperger’s (2011).

“Art is a cathartic outlet for my frustration at not ‘measuring up.’ Thank goodness I can express myself through my art.”

As a kid I collected pencil shavings, sparkly things from gutters, and rocks. I sat on boulders in the woods for hours staring at lights through the tree canopy above. I avoided other kids. I had a huge vocabulary, yet when I spoke I was different. I didn’t know others like me existed until I was diagnosed at age thirty-five. That was a revelation. A reason. An explanation. A happy day!

I know facts about amazing things – such as where Einstein vacationed with his wife, and what Van Gogh wrote in letters to his brother, yet there are times I don’t understand simplewords. This is hard to explain, but is serious to me. I hate being frustrated or confused. My mind twirls objects around in images that look like unidentifiable Picasso shapes. I can hear words like “tuna fish” and completely forget what those words mean.

“My life is about the journey, and I don’t regret any of the sparklies I’ve picked up along the way. Not one!”

www.aweinautism.org/gallery/art/kim-gerry-tucker/