MUSIC and art combine to help Brodie Alserda cope with her daily mental and physical issues stemming from her chromosome deletion disorder and living on the autism spectrum.
An exhibition in the foyer of Mornington Library covers part of her output from 2021 to this year and illustrates her interest in marine life.
The one picture that does not reflect on the watery world is of an iguana.
Now 29, Alserda’s chromosome deletion disorder was not diagnosed until she was 19, although she has been an artist since she was young.
The screening, maintained in a global database, showed no one else in the world had presented with the same genetic sequence.
A lifelong Mornington Peninsula resident, Alserda was a student at Padua College Mornington, where her mother Liz Alserda taught mathematics for more than 20 years.
Alserda, who also plays the clarinet, said her art and music provide “healthy distractions”.
During the coronavirus pandemic she used the lockdowns to focus on her work. “[The pandemic] gave me more time to draw, and I have created themes such as the dinosaur group, the underwater group, the Australiana group … I generally concentrate on animals.” Alserda’s first exhibition was at Lotus Chiropractic in Mount Eliza was followed by one at Frankston Arts Centre’s Mezzanine Gallery.
Brodie Alserda’s works will be exhibited in the foyer of Mornington Library, Queen Street, Mornington until 31 March.
First published in the Mornington News – 14 March 2023
