An exhibition of photography and painting by two artists with sight loss opens in Edinburgh on Saturday [August 4th]. ‘Kaleidoscope: a blind vision of colour and light’ will express Rosita McKenzie and Fiona Powell’s ways of seeing through abstract depictions of the landscape and world around them.
Rosita has won various awards for her photography and runs alternative photography workshops across Europe for sighted and non-sighted people alike.
“My photography is about many things but especially the ‘lived experience’ with all its wonder and diversity,” she says. “I believe that sight loss is not a curse but a great opportunity to explore another dimension of human existence. For others, however, severe sight loss is a mysterious and fearful thing.
“So I am creating a body of digital and tactile imagery to encourage the questions which sighted people are too embarrassed to ask. Inclusivity is a fundamental element of my arts practice and, in order to achieve the fullest accessibility for my audiences, I work with colleagues who help me to create tactile and audible replicas of my images.”
Fiona Powell developed sight loss in her late teens which was fully diagnosed when she was 21 and a student at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.
“I was told my eye sight would progressively get worse as I became older and that has indeed happened,” she says. “Everything has become blurry, with pulsing lights getting in the way and I can’t make out people’s faces anymore.”
Her paintings in the exhibition attempt to convey what remains of her vision. “Often objects can seem quite surreal and landscapes become patterns of colour,” she explains.
Sight loss isn’t black and white – we all see things differently. Explore this spectrum of sight with #HowISee: watch our film
* ‘Kaleidoscope: a blind vision of colour and light’ opens at the Whitespace Gallery, 76 East Crosscauseway, Edinburgh EH8 9HQ, at 7pm on Saturday, August 4th. It runs until August 9th.
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