Over the course of a couple months, her sight deteriorated from relatively average to the point of legal blindness due to what would later be diagnosed as Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON). Joey’s center field of vision became permanently blurry and she began to constantly see moving neon dots. Her “lights” are what sparked her initial interest in painting.
Frustrated that she couldn’t find images representing how she saw the world, Joey decided to pick up a paint brush to try to show it herself with acrylics. Her first acrylic paintings were attempts at her own vision simulations. She quickly fell in love with the medium and has been painting ever since.
Her work has since been featured in several shows, including the international APH InSights Art competition.
Joey uses a variety of adaptive strategies to create her works. She hopes to change the narrative about who can create and enjoy art. She writes about some of these adaptive strategies in her blog, Artist’s Adaptation Corner.
Joey is a proud alumna of California State University, Fullerton. She aspires to someday teach other blind and visually impaired people how to travel independently as an orientation and mobility specialist. When she’s not painting, Joey enjoys skateboarding with her white cane, playing with her cat, and telling terrible puns.
