The Story

Unheard Syntax visualizes the emotional dissonance of growing up with dyslexia in an environment that lacked the language or compassion to understand. The oversized, fragmented portrait is both intimate and monumental — a child’s face stretched with emotion, caught between confusion, wonder, and despair.

Swallowed by pastel clouds and muted tones, the left side of the canvas dissolves into color and abstraction — a representation of unspoken thoughts and inaccessible words. The right side, where the child’s features emerge with vivid intensity, feels like an effort to make oneself seen.

This work is not just about learning differences — it’s about being different, and what it means to grow up without a place to process that safely. Part of Silent Narrative: Echoes of the Unseen, it is a mirror for those who had to create their own emotional language in a world that never tried to speak theirs.

Collections: SILENT NARRATIVE: ehoes of the unseen

Subject Matter: Neurodiversity, Dyslexia, Inner Conflict, Black Boyhood, Self-Perception

Current Location: Avant Garde Gallery Toronto

Credits

Anjola Adeniji