Disabled artist Lisa Gunn shows her backbone

Lisa Gunn with her sculptures entitled 'Thoracic Cascade' and 'Columna vertibralis' in the exhibition Trapezius
Photograph: Michael Edgson

Calvaria feminae, 2011, A combination of bronze sculpture and a large-scale light box, detailing an adapted image of a full x-ray of Gunn’s own skull Photograph: Herbert Art Gallery

Columna vertebralis, 2011. Sculpture representing Lisa Gunn's damaged spine made from sculpting foam, hotwire, modrock and wood. Photograph: Herbert Art Gallery

Thoracic cascade, 2011, Lisa Gunn, Latex, natural fibres, wood and digital film. The structure has layers of non- allergenic latex, giving the appearance and texture of ‘muscle’ or ‘skin’. This becomes animated with the slightest air movement, in an attempt to depict the appearance of growth, independent movement and ‘healing’. Photograph: Lisa Gunn

Freedom, from the Suspension of Disbelief collection, 2005, Lisa Gunn. Photograph: Lisa Gunn

Thoracic Cascade 2 by Lisa Gunn. A combination of film and sculpture, depicting the power of nature through the explosive movement of the Rheinfall (Europe’s largest plain waterfall) in Switzerland, and a sculpture consisting of a wooden framework, which references the cathedral and the structure of the human spine and rib cage. Photograph: Lisa Gunn

Aqueous Exhilaration, 2011, Lisa Gunn, digital film projection. A companion piece to Thoracic Cascade, the film is not only a study of the natural power of the water, but also an aesthetic appreciation of the beauty of this natural phenomenon Photograph: Lisa Gunn

Liquid State, from the Suspension of Disbelief collection, 2005, Lisa Gunn Photograph: Lisa Gunn