Decoding braille
Clarke Reynolds
Introduction
My first Braille solo exhibition is a culmination of 18 months research exploring Braille as a visual language.
Inspired by print as a Braille typographer I wanted to show the beauty in that tiny dot when its enlarged as Braille is not meant to be seen only touched. I created a colour coded system each letter pattern was given its only colour so that a sighted person could learn braille threw colour association just as the brain recognises patterns in daily life.
The idea is that as you walk around and decode it with a key, the person would start to remember the pattern hence learn Braille. What made it more special was that the dots were raised so that visually impaired people could read the art by touch so they were on par with a sighted person in this exhibition.
There was 26 canvases. Each one represented a word beginning with each letter of the alphabet, with its definition written in braille. Each canvas was in the colour of the letter so it became a self portrait in words.