David Johnson and Emilie Louise Gossiaux in conversation

Join artists David Johnson and Emilie Gossiaux as they discuss their respective practices and the work they have produced for Beyond the Visual.

David Johnson (b.1956) is a UK-based blind artist. He says he is “unashamedly a blind artist rather than an artist who is blind”. In his art practice he uses a wide range of materials and processes including concrete, plaster, found objects and sonics. He produces a wide range of cast objects, 3D printed objects, assemblages and installations, all of which provoke, challenge and upset audience expectations. His art mission is not to overcome the barriers that blindness undoubtedly puts in the way in our visually-biased world, but rather to show that blindness has a positive side that art practice is uniquely placed to demonstrate. Beauty remains a core element in a blind person’s life.

Emilie Louise Gossiaux (b.1989) is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City, born in New Orleans. Gossiaux earned a BFA from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in 2014, and an MFA from Yale School of Art in 2019. As a visual artist who is also blind, Emilie brings their inner worlds into the physical realm through drawings, ceramics, and sculptural installations. Creating works based on dreams, memories, and their sense of touch, Gossiaux explores themes relating to interdependence, disability and interspecies kinship that centres on the decade-long relationship with their guide dog and animal companion, London.