Actor and disability advocate Chloe Hayden has curated a personally inspired installation for Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, using textiles as a storytelling medium to reflect her lived experience and inner world. At the launch (on 28 June), she was joined by close friends, including actor and musician Ayesha Madon, who came to support her and reflect on the intersections of art, identity, and neurodivergence.
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For Ayesha, Chloe played a pivotal role in an incredibly personal discovery of realising she is neurodivergent when she was diagnosed with ADHD. “Chloe was such a big part of that journey,” she says. “She helped me put language to things I’d been feeling my whole life.”
That self-awareness kicked off a process of unlearning and relearning, of stripping back layers shaped by external expectations to uncover a more authentic self. “I’m trying to relearn how to be the most authentic version of myself,” Ayesha says. “Growing up, I always felt too much, too big, too annoying.”
Much of that emotional journey is echoed in her character Amerie on Heartbreak High. When the show first premiered, Ayesha recalls going through a wave of intense self-acceptance. “There’s so much of my chaos in Amerie,” she explains. “I could finally connect with that childhood version of myself, the one who didn’t have to worry about how she was perceived, who didn’t have to dial herself down.”
It’s something both Chloe and Ayesha deeply relate to, that inner muscle of hyperfocus and emotional intensity, which they’ve both channelled into their creative work – whether it’s designing an immersive textile installation, bringing a character to life, or building a career in music. “Both disciplines require the same muscle,” Ayesha says. “That ability to go deep, to be so locked in, to feel everything.”
But working as a young woman in the entertainment industry comes with its own set of challenges. “It can be really confronting,” Ayesha admits. “You have to make sure you ask for what you need, especially when most of the people on set are men. It’s important to advocate for yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you.”
“As a POC in the industry, that shyness is exacerbated,” Ayesha says. “You rarely see yourself represented, especially in this country. So when you walk onto a set or into a space and you don’t see anyone who looks like you, it makes it even harder to take up space.”
That’s why spaces like Chloe’s installation feel so important, not just as art, but as safe places where voices are heard, seen, and validated. Through their work, Chloe and Ayesha continue to make room for authenticity and in doing so, encourage friends and community to do the same.
