I am honored to share this beautiful story that I have titled “A Masterpiece in the Making”. Yes, it is a story about art, but the true masterpiece in the making is the artist, Kobey Bonin. Kobey’s disability is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. He was diagnosed around the age of 12 and got his first wheelchair at 15. Today at the age of 27, he is an inspiration to many throughout the art and disability communities.
Watch Kobey in action. This time-lapse video shows Kobey creating a custom art piece for the INCIGHT annual gala on October 18, 2025.
Get tickets to the gala and meet Kobey in person!
What inspired you to pursue art, and how did you decide to go to art school?
KB: I have always had a passing interest in art, starting with pages of printer paper taped end for end depicting machines and stick figures in epic battles or drawings of spaceships and construction equipment. I was always drawing through middle school and into highschool. It was there that I took my first art class and found that I enjoyed fine art, painting and drawing especially. However, it wasn't until my third year of college at Oregon State University where I truly found a passion for art making. I'd decided to change majors from STEM to graphic design, and all of a sudden my course load was 4 days of art studios, learning drawing fundamentals and the basics of photoshop and photography. And all this just to be accepted into the graphic design program, which I did easily. I absolutely loved the foundational courses, it just clicked in my head in a way it hadn't before and I was good at it! Good in a way that a STEM program hadn't made me feel.
Unfortunately, I didn't graduate with a graphic design degree from OSU. A combination of being unable to accelerate the program and the abrupt start of a global pandemic led me to choose an alternative degree path to let me graduate sooner. Sitting around in quarantine and feeling dissatisfied with my degree while working part time made me start to evaluate what I really wanted to do. I thought back to OSU, how much I liked art and how good I was at it, that's really what made me consider going back to school, but specifically for art. An acquaintance of mine was who really inspired me to go to art school specifically. She'd been accepted to the graduate program at Pacific Northwest College of Art and graduated around the time I was thinking about returning to school. So I applied at PNCA, with my degree from OSU and my art portfolio from my foundation courses, I was accepted and offered a scholarship. The really attractive thing was that I would be able to complete a 4 year degree in just 2 years with the credits from my degree. I don't really have words for how well I fit at PNCA, I felt immediately at home, and even in a single semester my art improved to an astounding degree. Making the decision to go to art school at PNCA will rank among the most meaningful decisions I've ever made.
How has living with muscular dystrophy influenced your artistic style or the themes you explore in your work?
KB: Living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is a central aspect of my artwork. Everything comes back to it. The way I make art is constantly being changed as my disease progresses. The way I see the world, how I see artwork, how I take photographs, the way I hold a paintbrush or pencil, the way I interact with institutional spaces, it all comes back to my experiences with disability. The content of my artwork contends directly with what is happening to my muscles, whether it's writing about my occasional frustration with my body, or using the imagery of muscle affected by DMD as an art making tool. That's the cool thing about my art, ultimately its for me, to help make sense of what is happening to me and to allow others to get a peek behind the proverbial curtain. Disability is the theme I choose to explore above all others, simply because it's what I know best.
Can you share a piece of artwork you're especially proud of and the story behind it?
KB: There is one particular piece of mine that comes to mind when I think of work I'm especially proud of. The work is titled “Muscled” and was originally presented as my undergraduate thesis at PNCA in 2024. The work contends with my frustration and anger that comes from encountering the world in a disabled body, and with my inability to address the progression of my muscle loss in a meaningful way. The work itself if a series of graphic prints that depict 'healthy' muscle in comparison with 'dmd' muscle. The prints are made on paper that I individually crumpled and smeared with ink by hand. Each of the 21 prints were suspended using fishing line, showing off their transparency. Accompanying the prints were 25 copies of a 10 page book that I wrote, designed and printed. The book ended up containing a series of illustrations of muscle cells annotated with statements about my experience managing the emotional baggage that accompanies disability. This was my attempt to be more open with my experiences in a way that feels incredibly vulnerable. The work was received incredibly well, and I received the undergraduate award for best in show, selected from among the incredible artworks produced by my cohort in 2024. I'm so proud of the incredible amount of work that I did, and even more appreciative of those that were supportive of my journey with art.
Have you faced any unique challenges as an artist with muscular dystrophy, and how have you overcome them?
KB: The most unique challenge that I face as an artist with muscular dystrophy is the fact that my condition is progressive. The progression makes it so that anytime I learn a way of making, I ultimately have to relearn how to do it. For example, my body has the ability to draw, I hold the pencil and draw like anyone else, but in two years I might not be able to hold a pencil in the same way, and I'll have to adapt. This happens constantly, and I'm continually adapting my art practice to suit my declining physical capacity. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly something I can overcome, but I've decided to see it as an opportunity to embrace change. If I can't hold up a camera, I'll shoot photographs without the viewfinder. If I stop being able to paint with my hands, I'll put the paintbrush in my mouth. By choosing to embrace this change I'm choosing to have fun tinkering with my artwork. Yes, relearning takes time and is frustrating, but I'm learning to use that process to make my art more individual and unique, which feels meaningful.
We watched you create a piece of art today, which was so amazing to watch! Can you share how you are expressing yourself through your wheelchair art?
KB: Because I'm losing muscle control practically on a daily basis I can’t use a pencil or a paintbrush without thinking about my disability, but with my wheelchair I have so much more control over what kind of motions I can do in a way that I don’t have to think about it. Really just not having to think about it is such a nice way to take a break from having to worry about what I am going to be able to do in the next few weeks, few months or even 5 years from now. And really it's just fun to move without having to think about a particular way to do things. I can just move and enjoy the freedom and joy in it. I really enjoy the circular motion when I am painting because it’s that sensation of being a kid and spinning around to point where you feel dizzy. There is something about the freedom of motion that is so wonderful.
What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?
KB: This is a question I've repeated to myself over and over. Part of me is still discovering the message I want to convey, and I think it will continue to evolve over time. What I hope to do with my artwork is encourage viewers to confront disability in a way that can't be avoided. I want my artwork to present disability as a normal thing, to destigmatize it. Many people view disability as something to be pitied, find disabled people to be "inspiring" or "broken". I want to challenge those narratives by showing people the vulnerable side of disability, and being open about the challenges facing myself and the wider disability community. Most importantly, I want to ask viewers to sit with and look at their assumptions of disability in a meaningful way. And of course I also want my artwork to look really awesome while doing all of these things!
Last question Kobey, a fun one….what is a dream art project of yours?
KB: It would be cool to have a big piece of art that turns into a mural on the side of a building somewhere. I like the idea of doing something big and outside. The other idea I have that would be so fun is a big open space outside like a huge parking lot of wheelchair art. Using my wheels to paint on an endless canvas sounds incredibly exciting!
