"A Connection to the Canvas": An Interview with Bianca Raffaella
On tactile and intuitive painting as a visually impaired artist.
Hello all!
In my last post, I wrote about surrealism and recurrent themes of eyesight in art. This week, I’m very excited to share this interview with Bianca Raffaella, an extremely talented, registered blind artist, designer, activist, and public speaker based in the UK. She aims to demonstrate to the fully sighted that visual impairment is no restriction to being an artist, using painting and collage to challenge preconceptions about what a visually impaired artist can create and perceive.
Bianca Raffaella is currently based in Margate, and was the first registered blind student to graduate from Kingston University with a degree in the Visual Arts. She now works from TKE Studios, where she uses gestural fragments to capture motion and visual shifts on the canvas. An advocate for accessibility in the arts, Raffaella has shared her insights as a speaker at the Goethe-Institute’s Beyond Seeing project and as a panelist at Tate Modern’s Please Touch the Art talk.
Most recently, Flowers Gallery in London has announced the upcoming debut of Bianca’s first major solo exhibition, Faint Memories, from 12 February to 15 March 2025.
Faint Memories features a collection of textural flower paintings that evoke the artist’s experience of beauty in braille, which was how she first learned to read and write.
She believes that exposure to diverse perspectives is key to breaking down societal stigmas and barriers. By moving her whole body around the canvas, she employs gestural marks in both enjoyment and frustration, using soft dusty colors and rough tactile surfaces to release emotions and expressions. Her spontaneous and fluid work suits acrylic, charcoal, collage, and occasionally oil, guided by her hands as visual aids.
By never losing contact with the canvas, her colors are blended until they become a hushed impression, and details are made with fingertips or scrapes of a pallet knife.
You can find out more about Bianca’s work here. I hope you enjoy!
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Sensitive. Determined. Resilient.
How did you first start working as an artist?
"Officially" during lockdown. I was participating in ‘MANTRA’ treatment, which involved visualising and embodying the voice of anorexia to separate it from myself, using drawing. I depicted the voice of the illness, and over time, this practice became essential for my recovery. I've used this healing practice through painting ever since.
What was the first painting you sold?
Gold at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2021, coordinated by Yinka Shonibare.
In your work, you never lose contact with the canvas when painting. How did you start utilizing this technique?
I've always painted with a connection to the canvas because my sight has never changed. It’s a natural response, not a choice—it’s a consequence of being visually impaired.
How did it transform your relationship with your art?
This technique allows me to avoid getting lost in the painting. I see with my hands instead of relying on my eyes.
What has painting taught you about embodiment?
I'm embodying my perspective and interpretations of my visual reality.
How long have you been partially blind?
I have been Registered Blind since 1996, when I was five years old, but I was blind since birth.
What has your journey been like?
Treacherous, painful, emotional—but guided by a creative thread. As my childhood consultant, Professor David Taylor at Great Ormond Street Hospital who said, "See what she sees, not what she can’t see.”
How has it affected your art?
Profoundly. Adversity and perceived limitations have shaped me as an artist and as a person. As a Registered Blind individual, I chose a career in the visual arts as a painter, competing with sighted artists in a visual world. I’m recognised as an artist, not a "blind artist."
Do you believe the art world is inclusive when working with visually impaired artists? If not, how do you think it can change?
No, accessibility is hugely restricted, which limits the experience. For example, there are not enough tactile or auditory descriptions of visual art in museums and galleries. This fundamentally excludes visually impaired and blind viewers.
What are your biggest influences or inspirations?
The natural world, the sense of touch, and my memories of fragmented impressions of the world.
Did you paint growing up?
Yes. One of my earliest memories of painting was creating a Snowman Christmas card, which was a runner-up in the Richmond & Twickenham Times competition for infants. I also won the Isle of Wight County Press Fort Victoria Children's Art Competition for a few years in a row, where children painted scenes from the local aquarium.
What do you feel like when you're painting? In what ways does it feel therapeutic?
I feel exhilarated, spontaneous, and free when I paint. It’s a burst of energy onto the canvas, as I have so little time to capture the moment. I feel alive.
What is the biggest thing you've learned this past month?
Through the advancement of imaging technology at Moorfields Eye Hospital, more damage has been detected in my maculae and optic nerves.
What’s a project you’re currently excited about?
Creating large floral works. Working at scale is a new experience for me.
Is there anything else you'd like to add about yourself or your work?
I won gold in shot put, silver in javelin, and skied independently as a child.
What have been some Tiny Joys lately?
Terre Verte Green and Smalt Hue create the most beautiful green, which I've become obsessed with. A good friend introduced me to a Cornish Rex cat the other day, and this surprise brought me so much joy.
In the Comments…
What part did you resonate with most?
What are ways we can push for more accessibility within the art world?
How makes you feel the most alive and embodied?