Todd Bradley
Todd Bradley (b. 1970, Detroit) is an autistic, gay, and color-blind multidisciplinary artist based in San Diego. His practice encompasses photography, painting, book arts, and sculptural tableau, examining identity, memory, disability, and the psychological structures of American life. Across media, Bradley’s work reflects his lived experience and a persistent desire to interrogate the seen and unseen forces that shape our cultural and physical landscapes.
His C7 series—mixed-media paintings grounded in his personal experience with spinal stenosis—embodies this ethos through intensely layered, emotionally resonant imagery. Using archival pigment transfers of X-rays, embroidered nerve paths, and passages from medical literature, the works transform chronic pain into a visual narrative. Syringes, vertebral diagrams, and text fragments like “HELP” and “NUMB” mirror both anatomical trauma and the clinical detachment often faced by those living with invisible illnesses. For Bradley, the act of making is both meditative and defiant—a reclamation of agency through embodied creation.
Elsewhere in his practice, Bradley engages in a critical dialogue with American history and culture. His earlier diorama-based works, such as “The State of America ” and “War Stories I Never Heard,” critique militarism, masculinity, and patriotic myth-making. These themes evolve in later works, such as What Freedom Is, The Fashion Statement, and A Green New Deal, which confront political theater, climate anxiety, and performative liberty with a mix of satire and sincerity.
Architectural decay and surface texture are central motifs—whether in abandoned buildings or metaphorical structures—symbolizing collapse, neglect, or transformation. In From Here: Not From Here, Bradley reflects on the legacy of colonialism through photography and plant life, using invasive species as metaphors for migration, erasure, and reterritorialization. These elements reflect the artist’s conviction that even beauty can bear the residue of harm.
Although critical of American systems, Bradley’s work is rooted in care and a belief that highlighting dysfunction is a path to collective growth. “To love something enough to hold it accountable—that’s where healing begins,” he says. Through deeply personal and politically aware visual narratives, Bradley invites viewers to look closer, ask more complex questions, and consider how art can simultaneously challenge, soothe, and provoke.
As an artist, I like to explore different mediums and styles to express my views. My work focuses on decay, whether it is seedpods, structures or our society.
I believe the current state of photography is mirroring the early 1900’s when Kodak introduced the Brownie camera to the masses. Today, we have the cell phone. In both times, Cameras became common and artists took notice.
As the Modernists once did, I want to push the medium in new ways. Using a tradition photography foundation, I digitally altering my photographs or use micro child-like dioramas to discuss social issues facing us.