“Wearing glasses is really important to me from a fashion perspective”

How many pairs of spectacles or sunglasses do you own?

I have had lots of glasses. Wearing glasses is really important to me from a fashion perspective. Partly because I’m an artist and I want them to look jazzy, but not to the extent that they enter a room before me. I go to huge trouble to look for a pair of glasses I might like.

What frame shapes, colours or styles do you usually go for?

I often go for autumnal colours. But not necessarily – if I see something I really like, then I buy them. I’ve worn a lot of Ray-Bans. I like tortoiseshell, but they don’t have to be brown; I've had purple and blue versions.

I have several pairs of glasses because of an eye condition. I have some with prisms in, that I wear at the computer, others for when I’m standing and painting, and others that I walk around in. For my condition, something like a varifocal isn’t satisfactory, and I can’t wear sunglasses because it diminishes my sight further. That means I change my glasses depending on what I’m doing. I also have a lot of allergies, including a metal allergy, so nose pads must be built into the frame.

Can you describe your favourite pair?

At the moment my favourite pair are from Moschino. Somebody tells me they like my glasses every time I wear them. These frames have an oblong shape, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, with a tortoiseshell colouring and a gold tone down the side.

How long have you worn spectacles for? What prompted you to go for the sight test that led to this?

I have a condition called retinoschisis. It’s often inherited, and boys are more likely to develop it than girls, so they don’t really know why it’s come up, but they knew something was wrong with my central vision. I've had huge amounts of medication because of a life-long lung condition, and this includes steroids, which affect your eyes. Ultimately, the diagnosis was retinoschisis.

I’ve never seen clearly. We didn’t go to the optometrist when we were younger, and I just got on with it and learned to see the way I saw. But when things deteriorated, my brain couldn’t fathom the change. I was probably around 40. I was in hospital and had needed to be resuscitated. I couldn’t see the television at the end of the bed and thought I needed glasses.

The fact that I’ve had this incredible support from low vision clinics and optometrists is extending my ability to make the work I make. It’s vital

At the beginning it was terrible; I earn my living as a visual performance artist. I ended up at Moorfields. Once you see a low vision optometrist, they have a lot of things they can suggest to help you see more. I've been under a lot of low vision centres where you can get support, adaptations, and computers. The fact that I’ve had this incredible support from low vision clinics and optometrists is extending my ability to make my work. It’s vital.

I met an amazing Italian specialist at Moorfields. I was crying my eyes out, questioning what I was going to do because suddenly I couldn’t drive or do many things on my own that I might have done. You lose a sense of independence when you start losing your sight. He asked why I was crying so much and when I explained that I was an artist and couldn’t get my head around the diagnosis, he reminded me: “Art is to do with your soul.” It sounds a bit over the top now, but it was what I needed to hear at that moment. It made me realise that I was going to adapt.

What does vision and eye health mean to you?

I was first registered as visually impaired, and then as severely visually impaired. Though it would be wrong to say that I can’t see anything, because I can.

I rely a lot on perfect memory of what I used to see. But the thing that has been the most empowering for me is that it’s as if imagination is like a trapdoor that has opened and now everything is possible. Rather than being diminished, I feel that my vision has become huge.

I'm lucky because, as an artist, I already had a very acute visual awareness. While what I see through my eyes has diminished, my sense of visual awareness has always been there. After I got through the shock of it all, I learned that vision isn’t just to do with your eyes. It's part of something much bigger. If you think of how we recognise people we know from a distance while we still can’t see them clearly, perhaps from the way they walk, you realise that your brain is doing loads of the work. I accept that I don’t see the way other people see.

If someone complains to me about their eyes, I always tell them: “Go to your optometrist.” If they then try to tell me that their eyes are ‘fine,’ I’ll tell them: “How do you know they are fine? At least the optometrist will check your eye health out, do it for that alone if nothing else.”

My husband is very short sighted, which can sometimes mean it is easier to get a detached retina. He noticed something was wrong. Most people would probably leave it, and by the time they have a major problem, it can be difficult to try and save their sight. Within 24 hours, he had gone to Moorfields A&E, and they were able to do a laser treatment. If people know, then they can save their precious sight.

How important is eyewear to reflecting your personality?

When I first started wearing glasses all the time, I used to wear those rimless ones. Partly because I think I almost didn’t want people to see that I was wearing glasses. The glasses were often tiny, and because I have quite a vigorous practice, I was always knocking them off my face. So I swapped over. Since then, frames have changed and become a fashion item. They are really important. I always go through the sunglasses section to see what is there because they can often have a more expressionist style.

What are your top three tips for selecting the right pair of frames?

1. Show your personality. Glasses are as important as the t-shirt you wear
2. Don't let your glasses walk into the room before you do
3. Choose whatever it is you love. Not what you think others will.