Advanced Painting
Spring 2015: Halloran
Project 3 Historic Influence: Helen Keller
For this project we were asked to select a historical figure who will be the influence of our work. Instead of selecting an painter like last semester, I decided to go with someone who wasn't necessarily known for their artistic contributions, just so that their style of work wouldn't influence the style in which I created my piece. In fact, I wanted to challenge myself even further and choose someone who was unable to represent themselves in the visual arts at all. I decided to select Helen Keller as my historic influence, after watching an old movie (The Miracle Worker) about her growing up and overcoming the barriers of communication from being deaf and blind, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan.
Through this project I wanted to explore the realms of communication and how and individual can "feel" art, since my influence could really only feel out her surroundings. After researching into Keller's life and achievements, I realized that I needed to branch out and see how her inspirational story has impacted advancements in arts for the disabled today. I found that there are actually artists who are blind, like Sargy Mann and Ersef Armagan, who have pursued their passions for painting despite their disability, and have actually created a career from their amazing work. I also came across entire exhibitions of works for a blind audience, where not only the titles and descriptions of the pieces are readable in braille, but the work itself is able to be touched and felt to be seen through a different sensation.
After seeing some works for the sight-impaired, I decided that I wanted to incorporate texture and braille into my piece for the viewer to feel. It was interesting seeing even braille storybook's with illustrations that were also depicted in braille, such as the image from The Little Price novel shown below. The quote in braille that I included in my piece is one from Helen Keller herself, which reads; "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision." Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to receive a bachelor or arts degree, demonstrating what an amazing individual she was. The imagery in my piece is of basically every color that I could imagine, put onto the canvas in a chaotic and texturized landscape. I could only imagine that the inability to see or hear would leave one completely in the dark, and therefore must have one of the greatest imaginations in order to piece together the possible outcomes of their life.
Helen Keller Biography:
Movie: The Miracle Worker (2000)
Sargy Mann
Ersef Armagan
Artorks for the blind:
-Photo of Helen Keller and quote
-Artwork with braille 
-The Little Price, braille edition
-Braille alphabet
-Textured artwork
-Piece made for blind child (HuffPost)
-Art felt by viewer, Rothco
-Photo of Sargy Mann (blind artist)
-Ersef Armagan (blind artist)
-Movie Poster: The Miracle Worker, 2000
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