Rising Stars: Meet Echo Echo of North Phoenix

Today we’d like to introduce you to Echo Echo

Hi Echo, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My name is Echo Echo, aka Little Miss Diagnosed and I am the creator and artist behind Echoes of Natura. I make mixed media art specializing in taxidermy and animal preservation. I have my BS in veterinary medicine and am working towards my Masters in Psychology. I am a late diagnosed, high masking, queer autistic person, who is also a local sideshow/ drag performer. My stage name of Little Miss Diagnosed just recently changed due to an official adult autism diagnosis. Being neurocomplex shapes everything that I do, including my artistic process. I was always collecting things as a kid. Small bones, an extra sparkly rock etc. The natural world and animals especially have always fascinated me. I worked as a veterinary nurse, in small animal practice and non profit surgery centers. I loved working with animals but I did NOT love the people. I saw so much abuse and mistreatment, over and over, that I got compassion burnout within a few years of graduating with a veterinary degree. Once something is dead, it cant break your heart, so I turned my focus to taxidermy. But this is NOT your hunter, macho, traditional kind of taxidermy.. quite the opposite. This is rogue taxidermy also known as vulture culture art. I only use things that are going to waste and rot away unless I intervene. Like a vulture, nothing is ever killed for art and I make due with what I find myself and specimens that are donated to me after they have passed.
I embrace regal femininity, turning roadkill into royalty. I specialize in anthropomorphic characters, using antique/vintage porcelain dolls and taxidermy. I showcase my work in art gallery shows, art/vintage markets and by touring the US with the national Oddities and Curiosities Expo since 2022.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s definitely something you have to be passionate about and you don’t start making art because you need money. It’s been trial and error for me regarding what types of events I do and what local businesses I work with. The mixed media taxidermy that I make has often been called ‘esoteric’. It’s a niche audience and the average person will not understand it on initial viewing. But, as an extra late diagnosed, high making, AFAB Autistic person, I’m used to being misunderstood, misinterpreted and misrepresented. I am one of the most authentic people you could meet, almost to a fault and detriment to myself, and allistics don’t know what to think of someone who means what they say and holds onto personal values more than public opinion. Allistics naturally dislike neurodivergent people. It has been proven (starting in 2017) in study after study. The data is there. Allistics naturally distrust and avoid neurodivergents, even without the knowledge that they are talking to someone who is neurodivergent. We naturally make people uncomfortable and data suggests that almost 80% of Autistic AFAB people are still UNDIAGNOSED. I theorize that Autism/ADHD and other neurodiversities stem from the SAME developmental disorder. Something we have from birth, that manifests in different ways, depending on trauma, education, interventions etc.
Hypothesis : Nature (developmental disorder) + nurture (childhood experiences/upbringing)+ trauma = Can present as Autism, ADHD, Tourettes, Borderline, Dyslexia, Dyscialculia, Dyspraxia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and many other combinations mood/personality disorders. What if these conditions are all the same disorder but with different presentations? I could be absolutely wrong but the research needs to be done to disprove it and/or look at these conditions more closely. Most autism research is being done without the input of actually autistic people and that needs to change. So, yes. There have been many struggles for me, but I learned something from every single one and I use that knowledge to help others avoid going through what I have.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In the kaleidoscope of horrified whispers and formaldehyde scented rooms, taxidermy artist Little Miss Echo can be found conjuring herself companions from the dead, peculiar and forgotten, weaving tales from sinew and silk in the heart of Phoenix, AZ. Her professionally preserved anthropomorphic creatures emerge from a twilight realm where the regal specters of Queen Elizabeth’s court converse with the whimsical animals of Beatrix Potter. Little Miss Echo delves into the macabre with a femme focused vision and hand, crafting antiques with animal remains that are a true Memento Mori — a reminder that life is but a moment and Death is coming for us all. Her work, a dollhouse theater of regal roadkill and royal decay, evokes the opulence of Marie Antoinette with a twist of the feral and discarded, where innocence and glamour waltz with Kafkaesque isolation. They stand as beacons for those who traverse the labyrinth of a world not meant for them… their presence both comforting and unsettling. These fantastical animals of bygone eras, their forms evoking an unknown psychological horror, their narratives spun from their creator’s neurocomplexity, showcase a mirror of trauma and gilded dreams. Each Frankenstein friend is an homage, a relic of a world where macabre fairy tales and nursery rhyme nightmares coexist, a testament to the beauty found in the discarded and the broken, in the nostalgia of what once was, and what could be.

What matters most to you?
ART! Creativity! Connection! And the process of manifesting something emotional and beautiful in a tangible form. The process of creating, combined with music, is the only activity that quiets my constant barrage of thoughts, analyzations and data processing in my brain. I’ve been diagnosed as twice exceptional (aka 2e) meaning I have a developmental disability (Autism/ADHD) PLUS ‘profound giftedness”/profound IQ. So my mind NEVER rests. I’m processing so much information from my environment at all times that I’m often lost inside my own mind-palace. Attempting to mask and hide my natural state of being while also socializing is difficult for me so I tend to spend lots of time connecting with my critter friends (both alive and dead) and other neurodivergent people.
I’ve been studying psychology my whole life and 2 years ago, I could have presented a list of reasons why I did NOT fit the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Being raised without knowing I had this developmental disability was detrimental to me . I was unable to give psychologists the correct descriptors to diagnose me as autistic or ADHD. Also, neurodivergent people like myself, often have Alexithymia, which is a big hindrance to a proper adult diagnosis. Alexithymia is a condition that makes it difficult to identify, express, and experience emotions in an “appropriate” way.
An “Official” adult ASD diagnosis from a neuropsychologist, requires an understanding of sensory issues, social habits and support needs. How can someone who is so high masking (internally and externally) from birth, begin to understand that they are neurodivergent if they don’t identify with the autism diagnostic guidelines, questionnaires and self-assessment tools?? Just Like I didn’t. Even with my extensive knowledge of ASD, Psychology and Sociology, it wasn’t until I had my daughter, and recognized her neurocomplexity, that I was able to begin to understand myself. And if this disability was missed in me, what chance does the average Joe have of identifying these traits in themselves correctly? So, after this realization, and a few promising thought experiments, I’ve come to some theories regarding neurodiversity and now, doing the research to prove these theories can begin. Just within the last few months, I have been in contact with some national research institutes regarding my ideas and getting proper data on Autistic Burnout, (ABO) high-masking adult autism and the connection of using art therapy and music integration as a self regulation tool to treat meltdowns, shutdowns and Autistic Burn Out.
Most allistics, misunderstand neurodivergence as a whole. Modern Psychology and the DSM are behind because all research being done on Autism is either to find a cause or a cure. We do not need a cure! Also, it is currently, much more socially acceptable to identify as ADHD vs Autism. Most people, INCLUDING the professionals and clinicians, do not have the proper understanding of ASD. Ive found a large population of people who have a need for services, specifically geared towards the autistic adult, who appear allistic and therefore do not qualify for assistance. Unfortunately, due to my high IQ, compassion for others and ability to be socialize, my support needs were never recognized, let alone met. Even I didn’t understand what I was going through because all of the verbiage available to me didn’t describe what I was experiencing. Yes, I was always anxious and severely depressed, but I still have a bubbly and engaging personality. Yes, I was anxious but why and what was triggering it? Well, turns out anxiety and depression were a manifestation of ABO – Autistic Burnout!
Creation and art is my zen and only means of regulating a nervous system that’s often in a heightened state of ‘fight / flight / freeze.
Artistic Expression is only concerned about the here and now. It doesn’t ruminate about the past or need to plan for the future. This is how I found a place for myself within the allistic world. The process itself is how I regulate my nervous system on a daily basis to avoid Burnout. So, the result of a completed doll or taxidermy project is always a rewarding bonus, but it is that quiet time alone and creating that motivates me everyday. Art, Music, Mutual Aide, Compassion and Advocacy is how I find my way in a world that wasn’t made for minds like mine. People who care more about the truth than being liked. People who speak up for the underdog when no one else will. People who’s robot brain will always come to the most logical and empathic solution to a problem, regardless of the implications or harm that said solution will cause themselves. An innate sense of justice and a need to call out hypocrisy are lesser know traits of Autism. I highly recommend that anyone who has been diagnosed (or self identifies) as ADHD, Borderline, Bipolar, Social Anxiety Disorder or Dyslexia, please reach out via email to get on the list for a FREE copy of my Autism Screener! Made for the highly masked individual to help self access or show to their provider when seeking an adult autism diagnosis. It is not completed yet but will be available soon. Please email me at LittleMissDiagnosed@protonmail.com or reach out to me on TikTok @littlemissdiagn0sed for more information about neurodiversity in highly masked adults and to get your Free Screener. All of my art and taxidermy commission inquiries can be found on IG @EchoesofNatura and on TikTok @LittleMissEcho4
Email inquiries always welcome at EchoesofNatura@gmail.com

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/echoesofnatura
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@littlemissecho4

Image Credits
photography by Holly Shoemaker