Esref Armagan: No Sight No Sweat

Meet Esref Armagan. He was born blind. He will never be able to see a sunset or his daughter get married. But Esref Armagan can feel things that most of us will never be able to feel. A modest man, Esref was invited by Volvo to draw their new Volvo S60. Through a raised drawing technique, he worked for days feeling his way around the New Volvo and his raised drawing to perceive and represent the new car the only way he knows how. This is with his hands and sense of touch. He uses putty as an outline for the lines of the drawing and is unable to use a brush. He does all of his work with his hands. Esref's mental representation of a car and how it looks and feels has never been information received through his eyes, and yet he depicts an incredibly accurate painting of what the Volvo S60 looks like. The art he produces has great visual perspective, and Harvard researchers have even found in Esref that his visual cortex is activated while he draws. His painting and abilities can make us wonder the possibilities for those of us who have our sight.