As a legally blind photographer I have overcome the barriers, obstacles and challenges of producing and exhibiting my art. For the past several years, I have been experimenting with unusual and altered photographic "views" and "perspectives" that redefine and recontextualize, for both the sighted and blind communities, the very nature of seeing.
I entered the art arena as an accomplished photographer, incorporating extensive art education (Master of Fine Arts) with fifteen years of work experience as a fashion photographer. In 1996 I became legally blind due to an AIDS related condition known as cytomegalovirus retinitis. My limited visual acuity - total blindness in my left eye and limited peripheral vision with no central vision in my right eye - permits me to see the world much like it appears in an impressionist painting.
Seeing, as we all know, is a combination of all our physical, mental, psychological and spiritual states. We speak about "seeing" something clearly as seeing something accurately, truthfully and in its entirety. The contemporary Black and White photographs I have created during the past few years represent for me breakthrough images which challenge preconceived notions of blindness and achieve a new context in which to view blindness in the visual arts. A partial list of notable groundbreaking exhibitions that have included my work is featured below:
E X H I B I T I O N S
C O L L E C T O R S:
EDUCATION
2005–2008 California State University, Fullerton Fullerton, CA
Master of Fine Arts (4.0 GPA)
1983–1985 Columbia College Chicago IL
B.A., Photography and Art (With honors).
1975–1979 Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL
B.S., Fashion Merchandising and Marketing.