How colour blind artists cope

Good eyesight might seem to be a prerequisite for an artists but from Impressionist Edgar Degas to cyborg Neil Harbisson, colour blind artists replace clear sight with creative insights.
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Neil Harbisson, uses sound to perceive colour

About 8% of men – and a much smaller number of women – are colour blind. That doesn’t mean they can’t see colour but it means their capacity to perceive the full range of colour distinctions is impaired. They may be excluded from work as pilots, police officers and electricians but – perhaps counter-intuitively – they can be artists, including painters known for their effective use of colour.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina