I previously blogged about my favorite visual artist ever, Stephen Wiltshire. I had some questions I was really really wondering about, and his sister and representative, Annette Wiltshire, was kind enough to answer them for me:
BT: When and how did Stephen discover his amazing memory?
AW: Stephen started drawing from the age of three, his work was documented at the age of five , the same time that he was diagnosed. His drawings came to light at his special needs school “Queensmill School” in Fulham London. As a family we were aware of his drawing skills, however that was not priority, we desparately needed some advise and help as to what are next step would be and how to to help assist Stephen with his Autism.
BT: Stephen is an inspiration for others with autism. Does Stephen believe that his remarkable ability comes as a result of his autism, or does he view the two as simply unrelated?
AW: I personally believe that they are not related, although I am sure their would be others who would think differently and that is fine. Stephen has no understanding of Autism and if you were to ask him he would not know what you are asking of him. Growing up together as a family, we hardly ever thought about the word Autism or even tried to make sense of it or try to make Stephen understand what the title meant as this in my opinion is exactly what it is a title, a label. Our focus was for him to be accepted in society and have independance and to support him with the every day chores and challenges one has to go through in life, that we take for granted.
Stephen understands that he is special and that his drawings give immense happiness to all ages and walks of life. He is extremely proud of his acheivements and has come a long way and faced many hurdles and with great success has accomplished himself.
BT: How did Stephen deal with the worldwide recognition and fame? Did it affect his art in any way?
AW: The bigger the crowd the better the response, Stephen has astounding confidence, not an ounce of fear, completly fearless and is a complete natural in front of the camera, you sense the happiness in his eyes before he even begins to grin. He loves the fact that he is famous and I have to say, that it has only built his stature even more so. His artwork can never be affected, this is an individual who had no language until the age of five and used drawings to communicate with us and others and to this present day, still feels he needs to perfect his work and try harder, his determination and self pressure he puts on himself is unbeileveable and is a real inspiration to me.
BT: As an artist, does Stephen draw art that he keeps strictly to himself, or does everything find it’s way out there for fans to see?
AW: Yes, he does have a private collection, just like we need food and water to get by, Stephen needs pen and paper to keep him going, he draws almost every single day and I can’t tell you how many pens he has got through. We do separate both his works as I feel this is private and if he wanted his fans to see it he would happily hand it to me and say “here you are sis, you can sell that one, if you want to” which he has done in the past, however it is rare.
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