Yinka Shonibare – I’m Not Worried About Growing Older, I’m Relieved

I have a physical disability so, as a result, I don’t focus too much on what I see in the mirror. I am not overly obsessed, because I know that I am not going to be taking Naomi Campbell’s job any time soon.

I focus more on the internal – cerebral attributes. When I was 18, I contracted transverse myelitis, which is inflammation of the spinal cord, and was left with complete paralysis. Before the illness, I was more cerebral anyway – as a teenager, I went for solitary walks and wrote poetry – so I guess it didn’t have the devastating effect on me that it might have had on someone who was more body-conscious.

At first I had no movement at all from the neck down, so I had to work very hard to trick my brain into making parts of my body work. I still have residual paralysis and I use a wheelchair. I don’t have a lot of strength in my legs, but I have physiotherapy every day to help me maintain some physical strength. I try to eat healthily, I don’t eat junk food and I don’t indulge much in alcohol.

I have crazy dreadlocks and a beard, and I am ageing around the edges – some grey is starting to show. I don’t have the same kind of anxieties and struggles that go with being younger. Also, my son, Kay, is 21 and has left home, so I am discovering a new kind of independence, which is good.

I’m 50 but I am not worried about growing older. I’m relieved.

Yinka Shonibare‘s Nelson’s Ship In A Bottle is in the Fourth Plinth exhibition at ICA in London until 20 January.