A big thank you to our supporter, Terry Mathews, who is raising money for the Vision Foundation by auctioning his beautiful bronze sculpture. Terry’s sculpture is a wonderful depiction of a Camel Herder and will feature within Dawsons Auctioneers Fine Art & Antiques Auction on Thursday, 24th June 2021.
The natural world has always been a great love for 90-year-old Terry, who grew up in Uganda and spent his early life running safaris. When he was in his late 30s, a shooting accident left him blind in one eye and unable to continue the job he loved.
To support his family, Terry turned to his other great passion, sculpture.
An accessible art form
For Terry, the importance of sculpture lies in its tactile nature – sculpture is known to be one of the most accessible forms of art. For a visually impaired person, touching a sculpture can bring the piece to life in more ways than a mere audio description.
Terry says: “I’ve always liked other people to touch my work. Other sculptors get upset and say the oil on your hands spoils the piece, but I think that when somebody puts their hand on a piece of sculpture, it’s making them connect with the work. Sculpture is such a tactile thing and now that I can’t see at all, it helps me.”
A move across the world
Terry spent several years living in Greenwich, London, but as his vision began to deteriorate further, Terry moved back to Kenya to be with his grown-up children. Now, registered severely sight impaired, Terry spends his time sculpting the animals that mean so much to him from memory.
Terry says: “When you can see, you don’t appreciate what you can’t. When my vision faded, I realised I’m lucky… my sons are there (to give me) support… I often think about people who don’t have that help and I realise I’m one of the lucky ones.”
Transforming lives through sculpture
The Vision Foundation is so grateful to Terry for donating his beautiful Camel Herder sculpture and to Dawsons Auctioneers for very kindly supporting with the sale of Terry’s piece for free. All proceeds from the sale will make a direct and positive impact on the lives of blind and partially sighted people in our communities.
Get involved
The auction is going live at 9:30am on Thursday, 24th June so do please get involved, share with your networks and help Terry build brighter futures for the visually impaired community.
If you have any questions, you can get in touch on 020 7620 4994 or by email at hello@visionfoundation.org.uk, and don’t forget to pre-register for live bidding here.
Together we can change lives and save sight.
Thank you!
