Artist with sight-loss is aiming to empower
SHARING STORY AND CREATIVE WORK IN BID TO HELP OTHERS
AN ARTIST who has lost a lot of her sight has become one of the faces of a campaign raising awareness of the impact of vision loss.
Loughborough University PhD student Rachel Gadsden was diagnosed with retinoschisis – a disorder that splits the eye’s retina into two layers – 15 years ago.
She is one of the stars of the Roche Pharmaceuticals Change Maker Sight Loss Global Campaign.
Working with Dave Steele and Baluji Shrivastav, who are also living with vision impairment, Rachel has helped create an audiovisual performance including poetry, painting, and music.
The performance expresses the impact of vision loss on people’s lives – the common experiences, the emotions felt and the courageous, persistent human response to overcoming the challenges faced.
Rachel has shared her story in a video for the campaign.
She said: “I can remember the first moment I was told I had quite a serious eye problem. It was as if I’d sort of been punched in my chest. It was quite terrifying.
“I remember coming home and I made a sculpture in my studio with my eyes closed because I was thinking ‘how is all this creativity going to come out in another way?’
“Then one day I realised, you get on with this or you give up.
“I was not going to give up. Never.” Rachel’s visual impairment becomes a component of her artwork – she communicates her way of “seeing” people in portraiture and in interpreting the world around her.
She also has a lifelong lung condition – the treatment of which requires lifesaving injections by means of a syringe-driver administered at minute intervals – which helps shape her exploration of fragility and resilience.
Rachel said: “Ultimately, I hope this project empowers individuals who are experiencing vision loss.”
The campaign and Rachel’s video can be seen at: