Mirror Ball Art Raises Awareness of Disability

A fine art student has created an exhibition to communicate how disabled people can feel ‘like a mirror ball’ when using powerchairs on public transport.

Hanna Litvinova (pictured above), 31, an artist who has spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease that impacts muscle strength throughout the body, is exhibiting a series of oil paintings as part of the 2026 Nottingham Trent University (NTU) art and design Graduate Festival.

Her works explore visibility, separation, and public space through disability as a cultural experience by featuring a mirror ball as a metaphor of how it can feel to use powerchairs on buses and trains.

“I’m obsessed with public transport because it gives me the opportunity to be more independent,” said Hanna, a powerchair user who was already an established artist in her native Ukraine before attending the Nottingham School of Art & Design.

“At the same time it’s a very intimate moment, because you can’t avoid looking at other people. In a powerchair you’re positioned directly facing everyone, and you become very visible.”

Hanna, who works under the name Anna Li, also uses her art to highlight the emotional impact of being physically separated from loved ones when on public transport, as her husband Maksim is also a powerchair user.

“We’re forced to take separate buses or sit in different carriages as there’s normally only room for one powerchair,” said Hanna, whose condition prevents her from walking or using her arms fully.

“Every time we travel we have this separated experience, whereas other people share that moment with their family. It’s always a little sad.”

Hanna uses adaptive methods to create her artwork. She works while sat upright from her bed and uses wide, flat fan brushes that are lightweight and easier to hold, often taping two brushes together to reach further across large canvases that can measure up to a metre in length.

She also uses oil paint diluted to a watercolour-like consistency, allowing the paint to flow more freely.

“When the paint is very wet, it’s physically easier,” said Hanna. “I can’t control most of the process, but that’s not about losing control. It’s about giving control to the materials.”

Influenced by abstract artist Amy Sillman, particularly her notion of ‘awkwardness’, Hanna’s work explores instability, fragmentation, and embodied experience.

“Art is a way to escape, but also a way to explain,” she said. “Most people don’t have a disability. I can’t always explain how my body feels in words, but I can show it through art – not to make people feel pity, but to make them interested.”

Hanna’s work will be on public display as part of the ‘Common Ground’ exhibition at NTU’s Bonington building, City Campus, until May 22.

To find out more visit https://www.ntu.ac.uk/about-us/events/events/2026/5/grad-fest-public-exhibition-fine-art