The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes

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About

NOTE: All exhibitions at Tangled Art + Disability are able to be viewed virtually. Please go to the link https://tangledarts.org/visit-tangled/ for virtual options, or contact us.

Art often exists as an inaccessible domain for those who are blind or partially sighted. As a result, this community can feel marginalized and neglected. Far too frequently, cultural spaces like galleries and museums rely solely on visual senses, disregarding the potential for alternative modes of meaning-making in art.

The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes borrows imagery from the Biblical story of Saul, using the symbolism of scales to embody the transformative process of shedding prejudiced or inaccessible traditions to surface more just and inclusive practices. By intentionally obscuring visuals and using Braille translations, the artworks in this exhibition invite us to engage with touch and sound, and challenge the conventional modalities of a gallery. It also draws attention to the necessity of including non-sighted audiences in the art community by changing the way we ‘view’ art.

The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes is an invitation to attune into sense and perception, through the abstracted visuals and Braille language works, to interact with art in different ways and to enrich these experiences in non-visual ways.

About the Artist:

Olivia Brouwer is an interdisciplinary artist holding a BFA from the Art and Art History joint program at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College. As a partially blind artist, Brouwer explores the concept of blindness through painting, printmaking, sound, and sculpture, melding organic and geometric abstraction with scenes inspired by natural organisms and spiritual teachings relating to vision from both a metaphorical and literal sense. Inspired by the Rorschach Inkblot Test, she addresses blindness by examining ideas surrounding belief, meaning, clarity, and sight. Her most recent work explores visual art accessibility and the activation of human senses beyond the reliance on vision, enabling an inclusive experience for both non-sighted and sighted audiences.

Links

• Visit Us @ Tangled tangledarts.org

Organizer

Tangled Art + Disability

Tangled Art + Disability is dedicated to connecting professional and emerging artists, the arts community, and a diverse public through creative passion and artistic excellence. Our mission is to support Disabled, d/Deaf, chronically ill, neurodiverse, k/crip, Mad, sick & spoonie artists; to cultivate Disability Arts in Canada; and to increase opportunities for everyone to participate in the arts. We do this by:

- Developing, showcasing, promoting, and employing Disabled artists;

- Creating partnerships and collaborations that increase opportunities for Disabled artists;

- Empowering Deaf, Mad, and Disability-identified people to embrace and explore their own creativity;

- Publicly showcasing the rich diversity of talent from the Disability Arts community.

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