The Spectrum
13x19” Archival Pigment Prints on 300gsm Gold Fibre Paper
Cathy Immordino | 2019
The Spectrum is a portrait series by Los Angeles–based artist Cathy Immordino that explores the individuality, complexity, and humanity of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Printed as 13x19” archival pigment works on 300gsm gold fibre paper, each piece is rendered with luminous depth and tonal warmth, emphasizing both presence and sensitivity.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encompasses a broad range of neurological and developmental differences that shape how individuals communicate, interact, and experience the world. Rather than defining these children through diagnosis alone, this series seeks to honor the vast diversity within the spectrum—where each child exists as a distinct and fully formed individual, with their own internal logic, emotional landscape, and way of being.
Each portrait is layered with butterflies native to the Los Angeles region during April, Autism Awareness Month. These ephemeral forms act as symbolic counterpoints—suggesting transformation, fragility, and emergence—while also introducing a visual language of movement and color that echoes the emotional resonance of each subject. The spectrum of hues within the compositions reflects personality, presence, and perception rather than categorization.
Created as both an artistic and personal undertaking, the series is informed by the artist’s lived experience as a mother of two sons on the spectrum. It resists reductive labeling, instead offering a space of recognition, dignity, and quiet intimacy. The portraits invite viewers to meet each child not as a diagnosis, but as a complete and evolving human being.
This is an ongoing project with an expanded vision: to photograph members of the autistic community in Los Angeles and incorporate recorded audio from both children and parents, creating a more expansive and multidimensional archive of lived experience. Any funding associated with the project is intended to directly support participating families.
Ultimately, The Spectrum is a study in perception—an effort to see beyond definition into individuality, and to hold difference not as separation, but as variation within a shared human field.
The Spectrum
13x19” Archival Pigment Prints on 300gsm Gold Fibre Paper
Cathy Immordino | 2019
The Spectrum is a portrait series by Los Angeles–based artist Cathy Immordino that explores the individuality, complexity, and humanity of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Printed as 13x19” archival pigment works on 300gsm gold fibre paper, each piece is rendered with luminous depth and tonal warmth, emphasizing both presence and sensitivity.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) encompasses a broad range of neurological and developmental differences that shape how individuals communicate, interact, and experience the world. Rather than defining these children through diagnosis alone, this series seeks to honor the vast diversity within the spectrum—where each child exists as a distinct and fully formed individual, with their own internal logic, emotional landscape, and way of being.
Each portrait is layered with butterflies native to the Los Angeles region during April, Autism Awareness Month. These ephemeral forms act as symbolic counterpoints—suggesting transformation, fragility, and emergence—while also introducing a visual language of movement and color that echoes the emotional resonance of each subject. The spectrum of hues within the compositions reflects personality, presence, and perception rather than categorization.
Created as both an artistic and personal undertaking, the series is informed by the artist’s lived experience as a mother of two sons on the spectrum. It resists reductive labeling, instead offering a space of recognition, dignity, and quiet intimacy. The portraits invite viewers to meet each child not as a diagnosis, but as a complete and evolving human being.
This is an ongoing project with an expanded vision: to photograph members of the autistic community in Los Angeles and incorporate recorded audio from both children and parents, creating a more expansive and multidimensional archive of lived experience. Any funding associated with the project is intended to directly support participating families.
Ultimately, The Spectrum is a study in perception—an effort to see beyond definition into individuality, and to hold difference not as separation, but as variation within a shared human field.