The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes
Olivia Brouwer
Sept 13 - Nov 9, 2025
Opening Reception
Sept 13 - 2-4pm
Artist Talk
Nov 8 - 2-4pm
Art often exists as an inaccessible domain for those who are blind or partially sighted. As a result, this community can feel marginalized and neglected. Far too frequently, cultural spaces like galleries and museums rely solely on visual senses, disregarding the potential for alternative modes of meaning-making in art.
The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes borrows imagery from the Biblical story of Saul, using the symbolism of scales to embody the transformative process of shedding prejudiced or inaccessible traditions to surface more just and inclusive practices. By intentionally obscuring visuals and using Braille translations, the artworks in this exhibition invite us to engage with touch and sound, and challenge the conventional modalities of a gallery. It also draws attention to the necessity of including non-sighted audiences in the art community by changing the way we ‘view’ art.
The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes is an invitation to attune into sense and perception, through the abstracted visuals and Braille language works, to interact with art in different ways and to enrich these experiences in non-visual ways.
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-Olivia Brouwer
Learning how to write in Braille. Sept/13
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Listening to "Soft-spoken". Sept/13
Monthly Coffee House Event. Sept/14
Olivia Brouwer is an interdisciplinary artist holding a BFA from the Art and Art History joint program at the University of Toronto and Sheridan College. As a partially blind artist, Brouwer explores the concept of blindness through painting, printmaking, sound, and sculpture, melding organic and geometric abstraction with scenes inspired by natural organisms and spiritual teachings relating to vision from both a metaphorical and literal sense. Inspired by the Rorschach Inkblot Test, she addresses blindness by examining ideas surrounding belief, meaning, clarity, and sight. Her most recent work explores visual art accessibility and the activation of human senses beyond the reliance of vision, enabling an inclusive experience for both non-sighted and sighted audiences.
"Brouwer's work briefly loosens conventional dependence on vision and amplifies our sense-perception to evoke an immersive and inclusive artistic experience."
Mosaic, September 2025, pg15
Read "More than meets the eye" an article about 'The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes'
in the September Issue of MOSAIC
"According to the artist, "The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes is an invitation to attune into sense and perception, through the abstracted visuals and Braille language works, to interact with art in different ways and to enrich these experiences in non-visual ways." "
South Grey News, September 17, 2025
Read "Sense and Perception allow interaction with art in a non-visual way at the Durham Art Gallery"
on the South Grey News website
Audio Description Tour of the exhibit The Scales That Fall From Our Eyes at the Durham Art Gallery. Narrated by the artist Olivia Brouwer
*media players with headphones available on-site for visitors to enjoy the audio description tour as you explore the exhibit.
