April 7, 2019
We love it when our readers write in to us and share their stories,
like this one from Hyderabad. Read about the incredibly creative Aishwarya,
who did not let vision loss stop her from pursuing her love for art.
When T V Aishwarya lost her vision at the age of 19, she
never thought she would hold a brush again. Aishwarya was in the third year
of her graduation in the year 2008 when she was diagnosed with a brain
tumour. Over the next few months, along with her vision, she lost her
hearing, sense of smell, taste, and suffered short-term memory loss.
“I was also heading for paralysis of my right limbs”, recalls Aishwarya.
“It was a matter of life and death. I recuperated within nine months and
all my senses, besides vision, were restored in less than a year’s time”.
For five years Aishwarya was home, often battling depression as she came to
terms with giving up on her ambition of making films.
She fought through this state of mind and enrolled at the Institute
for Vision Rehabilitation (IVR) in Hyderabad, which has
rehabilitation programs for people with vision loss. It was here that she got
back into painting in a way she never imagined..
I was always interested in art as my grandfather and mother were into art
themselves. So, I would copy their works of art even as a child. In 2017,
my workplace conducted a painting workshop for persons with vision loss,
facilitated by a company called Anybody Can Paint. I learned abstract
painting but I also realized the need to create tactile paintings so people
with vision loss could enjoy art too. – T V Aishwarya, Counsellor
& Painter
Aishwarya’s tactile paintings are the outcome of a carefully thought
through process. First, she thinks of a concept and then starts selecting and
mixing colours appropriate to the message she wants to communicate.
“I take help to mix my colours and I am very specific about this. If I want
brown, I specify dark chocolate brown, teak brown, etc. I tell the person
which colours to mix to arrive at that specific shade.” Aishwarya then
covers the areas she does not want to paint so she can focus on the specific
area she is working on.
The choice of materials used in the paintings are tactile. “They could be
anything from paper, beads, coffee cups, ice cream sticks, straws, etc. For
example, in my painting, ‘A Tranquil Moment’, I used aluminium foil to
make leaves, a man and his dog. I shaped the foil in the appropriate shapes
and then glued paper around it and finger-painted it.”.
The result is works that are stunning to see and touch. More importantly,
they are accessible to everyone. Having developed this, Aishwarya now wants
other visually impaired people to experience the joy of creating art.
Aishwarya’s dedication and commitment to creating tactile art has impressed
people around her. Dr Beula Christy, Head of Department at
the Institute of Vision Rehabilitation, says her painting skills are just
another sign of Aishwarya’s creative skills.
“Be it poetry or writing, Aishwarya’s is spontaneous and creative”,
says Dr Christy. “She has been with us for many years and is always full of
ideas and very active when it comes to office activities. She has never made
anyone here feel that she is unable or unwilling to do anything. She is part
and parcel of everything we do”.
Aishwarya is not sure whether she will take up art professionally but she is
clear that she wants to spread this knowledge among the visually impaired
community. She plans to hold workshops to create awareness in the community.
“I want to spread this knowledge among people who think they will not be
able to paint because they are blind”, she says. “I am in the process of
organizing a workshop and exhibition which will bring people with and without
vision loss together so they can experience art together”.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/21877
