“Art aficionado Jean-Daniel Aubin lost his sight to glaucoma in 2012, so it had been years since he had seen one of his favourite Alfred Pellan paintings.
Last summer, Mr. Aubin, 64, absorbed the painting’s influence once again. A groundbreaking project combining art, graphic design and 3-D printing by graduate researcher Patricia Bérubé put the Pellan at the fingertips of Mr. Aubin and hundreds of other visually impaired people through silicone lines and textures.
“It was quite a discovery. It ignited an emotion I hadn’t felt in a long time,” said Mr. Aubin, who worked for years in the perfume industry and has always had in interest in style, design and art. “When you’re standing there for a moment in front of that painting, it’s like we are no longer blind.”
Ms. Bérubé’s two-year research project involved one iconic Quebec painting, but she hopes her research might one day put dozens of tactile versions of visual works into galleries. She has just started working on her PhD at Carleton University to push the idea further.”
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https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/art-and-architecture/article-how-a-montreal-researcher-is-helping-the-blind-experience-visual-art/