My left eye is amblyopic (lazy, nearly blind etc.). The problem isn’t the shape of the lens—the vision cannot be corrected by lasers or contacts/glasses alone. It is the muscles in the eye—the vision in that eye was so poor that it just shut off when I was little and I have gone through most of my life only using the other eye to see.
So, this last year I decided to invest in vision therapy. I see the doctor once a month for progress check-ins and then I do homework on my computer to train my eyes. My health insurance doesn’t cover the therapy and it costs me roughly $200 a month, but there isn’t a whole lot that is more important to me than seeing. It takes two eyes to see in three dimensions, so until this last year, I’ve have very little depth perception. And I sculpt. So far I’ve been at the therapy for about seven months and my vision has come so far! Right now, I am in a phase where we train my two eyes to see together—to see in three dimensions. I get to wear super cool 3d glasses. ;p I am excited to see how this therapy will affect my sculpture work.
I did a bit of poking around the internets to see what kinds of vision ailments various artists in the past dealt with. I found a really neat book that is unfortunately out of print. It is called “The Eye of the Artist” by Michael Marmor. I was amazed at the vision challenges these great artists had and I wonder just how much the vision affected their work.
Both Monet and Degas struggled with cataracts late in life. In Monet’s later paintings, he could no longer see colors clearly and relied instead on the names printed on the paint tubes. Simulations say that he would have seen the colors in his famous waterlilies painting as dark and muddied browns and yellows--so we don't know if those bright, floral shades we all know were intentional. Here is a little article that talks more about it.
Saturday, April 5, 2008 at 02:21AM
Reader Comments (1)
Jessica, you have a lovely blog to show case your beautiful work.
Glad to hear you are progressing with your eyesight and you are so smart to continue with your therapy.
I found your subject regarding vision and art very interesting.
I totally understand since I have cataracts and low tension glaucoma which is very progressive and I have already lost eye sight in the lower part of both eyes. I know that glaucoma may cause color deficiencies in some people; I have no idea if that has happened to me. So far, eye drops are keeping complete blindness at bay; if they fail in the future, laser surgery will be the next step.
So far, I am still able to sculpt and hope that what I am seeing is true to color and form.
I am going to add your blog to mine, hope you don't mind.
Best Wishes to an artist I have always admired.
Bonnie
P.S.: I found your blog here:
http://needleandclay.com
She has written a very nice article regarding your art work