Artists drawn in final of blind-art contest

Dec 20 2004

Birmingham Post

Two artists from the West Midlands have been chosen in the final of a national competition to create works of art for visually impaired and blind people, as well as those with sight. Natasha Wymer, from Handsworth Wood, and Ruth Spaak from Stratford upon Avon, will have their work displayed at the Royal College of Art, in London, in March 2005 as part of Sense and Sensibility, BlindArt's contemporary art exhibition. The exhibits can be touched and experienced with all the senses, not just sight. The winner of the competition will be announced in March and a prize of £5,000 will be awarded by Arts Minister Estelle Morris (Lab, Yardley). Natasha Wymer said: "I have worked in actions where paint is squeezed straight from the tube onto the canvas in a quite intuitive and random way. I have enjoyed developing an energetic and a fresh approach to mark making. My paintings have an extremely tactile presence which arousean overwhelming compulsion for them to be touched. "This intimate seduction between my work and its audience has become vital to its enjoyment."