Does this mean that, for the blind and visually impaired, life is “less colourful”? To some extent, yes. But one local artist is doing his best to allow them to enjoy the world of art, even if they cannot actually see it.
“Blind Side”, currently running at Brickfields’ Wei-Ling Gallery, is dedicated to the visually impaired community of Malaysia. It is the brainchild of Ivan Lam, 48, who has worked with the community to create artworks they can experience without sight.
“People never ask why should blind people be involved in the arts, so I asked those questions,” Lam told FMT. After all, “the visually impaired can still be visually creative”.
In his exhibition, six resin-coated canvases, in bright orange, purple, blue, yellow, red and green, are adorned with a series of vinyl dots.
These dots serve a practical purpose: they actually form Braille words, which, combined, create a passage describing the corresponding colour to the visually impaired viewer.
Still, Lam said you can’t actually describe colours to someone who has never seen them. “They associate colours with objects. For instance, yellow is a banana. They can peel it, eat it, smell it.
“Blood is red, and oranges are… orange.”
Whereas most art exhibitions bar visitors from touching the artworks, Lam allows and even encourages viewers to do so.
Of the seven artworks, one stands apart, and indeed, it has a far more pointed purpose. Titled “Blindsight”, it consists of a message written in Braille – though there are no raised dots for the blind visitor to feel.
At the bottom is an image of a crowd gathered around a police car, seemingly waiting for someone to exit it.
“People who can read Braille cannot see the message. Those who can see the Braille also cannot read the message,” Lam pointed out.
It’s a deliberately cryptic piece, he added, explaining that the Braille message reads: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
Concurrent with Lam’s exhibition is another by 58-year-old Chen Wei Meng, “SMS to Song”. With such a title, you might think it revolves around technology and music.
But “SMS” is actually short for “Shan Met Sui” – “Shan” being the Chinese for “mountain”, and “sui” for “water”. “Song” refers to the Song Dynasty (960AD-1127).
Indeed, most of Chen’s paintings centre around towering mountains and their equally imposing reflections in the waters below.
Speaking with FMT, Chen said when he was younger, he did not appreciate the allure of classical Chinese paintings. “I could not understand the wisdom of the masters then,” he said. “I thought it was so boring.
“But, as I grew older, I realised they had their own attitudes, theories, and philosophies regarding art.”
The standout artwork of his exhibition is titled “Come Closer and You Can See Me 1”. It resembles one complete painting, but look closer and you’ll see it comprises three panels, each with the distinctive style of a maestro from the Song period.
The leftmost panel pays homage to Fan Kuan with its “raindrop texture strokes”, while the middle one has trees made with Guo Xi’s distinctive “crab claw style”.
The rightmost panel draws inspiration from Li Tang, whose “axe texture strokes” are what give the mountains their realistic, rocky appearances.
These classical Chinese paintings are gorgeous, and are certainly different from Chen’s previous artworks, two of which – realistic and detailed landscape paintings – can be viewed on the upper floor of the gallery.
As to what his paintings mean, he leaves it to the individual viewer. “Visual reading is very personal, after all.”
‘Blind Side’ will be running until May 3, and ‘SMS to Song’ until May 27.
For more information, visit Wei-Ling Gallery’s website, and Facebook and Instagram profiles.
Wei-Ling Gallery
8, Jalan Scott,
Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 10am-6pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays)