[accessibleimage] BlindArt exhibition

Hi,
Sending some information about the March exhibition at The
Royal College of Art for the exhibition, link to information
http://www.blindart.net/media/presscentre 
Including text about the works 
Regards,
Lisa


Full descriptions of works on picture page.  Please credit
©. Texts here are provided by the artists.

1.      River Light No 1
        John Pryke
        Pastel 72 x 93 cm
        © BlindArt/John Pryke 
"I am registered partially sighted with macular
degeneration.  Using my peripheral vision I produce pastel
paintings of light rather than form.  The trick is not to
worry about what's not coming in, but rather to concentrate
on what is coming in - not looking (active) but seeing
(passive).  Hence, the less I look the more I see."

2.      Journeyman
        Rosie Musgrave
        Ancaster Limestone 66 x 30 x 109 cm
        © BlindArt/Rosie Musgrave
"I carve stone as an invitation to touch.  Its sensuality
can reveal itself if we can only close our eyes and just
feel with our hands.  This is ancient material formed in the
age of dinosaurs.  Exploring its changing temperatures,
textures, forms and spaces can offer a new landscape of
discovery."

3.      I Love You (detail)
        Deborah Russell
        Gesso on plaster 95 x 31 x 4 cm
        © BlindArt/Deborah Russell
"In this expression of love, the tactile and sculptural
qualities of Braille give a physical reality to a central
human emotion.  By linking love and the heightened sensory
awareness accompanying blindness, where new orientation and
understanding are gained by responding to subtle stimuli,
the piece amplifies the metaphor 'love is blind'."

4.      Untitled (Orange on Yellow) (detail) 
        Natasha Wymer
        Oil on canvas 122 x 122 cm
        © BlindArt/Natasha Wymer
'Working in actions where paint is squeezed straight from
the tube onto the canvas in a quite intuitive and random
way, I have enjoyed developing an energetic and a fresh
approach to mark making.  My paintings have an extremely
tactile presence which arouse an overwhelming compulsion for
them to be touched.  This intimate seduction between my work
and its audience has become vital to its enjoyment and
appreciation.  Evoking feelings of enjoyment and curiosity
of my paintings from the audience is of central importance
to the progression of my work."

5.      Pinky & Perky
        Carrie Reichardt
        Mixed/latex  Lifesize
        © BlindArt/Carrie Reichardt
"Designed to be experienced on either a live female form or
stationary mannequin, the piece is made from latex and
fabric and offers the audience a startling and amusing
tactile experience, also serving as a reminder of the
absurdities of fashion, food and science industries."

6.      Resistance (diptych)
        Anastasia Wildig
        Feather on canvas 23 x 30 cm
        © BlindArt/Anastasia Wildig
"This is essentially a highly tactile piece with meaning
assisted by its title.  Chinese artist Maya Lin said that
'to fly we have to have resistance'.  I have aimed to show
this in a literal sense as we need to recognise that
potential difficulties that arise in our path through life
are pure challenges that mature our perception of the world
and assist in our understanding of our purpose. I am aiming
to present the idea that difficulties, such as visual
impairment, can act as a strengthening mechanism in many
respects."

7.      Action Reaction I
        Colin Hamilton
        Resin & Enamel 101 x 86 cm 
        © BlindArt/Colin Hamilton
        "I have tried to convey the movement of one block on
another block squeezing it dry."


 
8.      Tactile Memories
        Catalina Montesinos Brooker
        Stoneware 76 x 23 cm
        © BlindArt/Catalina Montesinos Brooker
"Since I lost the vestiges of sight, about six years ago, I
rely on literature as a source of ideas.  The short stories
by Italo Calvino have struck a chord with my imagination and
reconnected childhood memories with adult experience.  The
sensuousness of clay is an ideal vehicle with which to
convey these tactile memories and fantasies."

9.      Distraction: Watch the Tree
        Rachel Duerden
        White Paper 152  x 91 cm 
        © BlindArt/Rachel Duerden
"I envisage people walking through this piece so they can
interact with it.  I would like to convey to people a
snapshot of what I can experience as a person with a visual
impairment. 'Watch the Tree' were the exact words of a group
of teenagers on the other side of the street when I was
walking with my symbol cane.  As I have some sight I could
see that there was no tree ahead and knew that they were
trying to distract me.  This piece represents to me some of
the day to day dangers I have experienced.  To end on a
positive note, I held my head up high."

10.     Wallpaper
        Liz Munro & Nuala Watt
        Digital print with screen print 76 x 122 cm 
© BlindArt/Liz Munro & Nuala Watt
"The collaboration between my partially sighted daughter and
myself inspired several pieces of work centred around issues
of 'seeing'.  We work together by discussing her work, which
is very abstract.  She often finds that sighted people
assume she can see very little when in fact she has a
complex sensory perception of the world.  Society should
acknowledge that there is an alternative vision, which can
contribute to mainstream artistic discourse in a fresh and
exciting way.
My daughter writes poetry as a way of expressing her visual
world and she uses words in the same way as I use marks in
drawing.  She wrote the poem 'Birdsong' as the starting
point for the project and we combined the poem with
photographic images to produce 'Wallpaper'.  The works will
hang as wallpapers and will hopefully be touched throughout
the exhibition.  We like the idea of the papers not being
precious and being marked by the touch of others."

11.     Shimmer
        Jacqueline James
        Handwoven/ dyed textile 91 x 165 cm
        © BlindArt/Jacqueline James
"As a partially sighted textile artist I specialise in
making individually designed hand-woven rugs and wall panels
for commission and exhibition.  This textile artwork is made
using a technique called weft ikat.  The cotton weft yarn is
tied with resists and dyed a number of times before
weaving.  The results are very pleasing to me as they seem
to represent my visual interpretation.  The images may look
'out of focus' but that is the intention and result of the
process.
I would welcome visitors to touch my tactile weaving - to
see it with their fingers, as I enjoy it."

12.     Blue View
        Shelley Rose
        Silkscreen 60 x 60 cm
        © BlindArt/Shelley Rose
"In my work I am concerned with light, colour and form. My
recent body of work has emerged from the observation of the
quality and character of light and light phenomena, and
wishing to translate these into the medium of colour
printing."

13.     Untitled
        Pei-Chun Liu
        Wax sculpture 43 x 30 x 30 cm
        © BlindArt/Pei-Chun Liu
"I'm fascinated by things which are personal, perceptible
and accessible to the memory.  The intention of my work is
not to give a clear message to the audience of what it is;
rather to create a conflict, an ambiguity and to challenge
people's recognition of things."

14.     Dusk, Ullapool Harbour
        John Neville
        Mixed media 51 x 51 cm 
        © BlindArt/John Neville
"I try to capture the tangible physical substance of objects
as well as the atmosphere of light and weather by creating
works that are both sculpture and painting.  In this way I
can interpret the subject more effectively than by using
only one technique."

For further information please contact Laura Colborn on 020
7381 1981 or Pippa Roberts on 020 7923 3188
pr@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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