In an art, technology, and charitable first, Sarah Ezekiel – an artist diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease who paints using eye-tracking technology – will be selling her work in Furniture Village (www.furniturevillage.co.uk) stores across the UK in order to raise funds and awareness for disability charity The Matt Hampson Foundation (www.matthampson.co.uk).
Sarah Ezekiel, who is from the UK, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) – also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease or ALS – in 2000. Since then she has been actively raising awareness for the illness by creating pieces of art with assistive eye-tracking technology made by Swedish company Tobii Dynavox (www.tobiidynavox.com). Furniture Village – the UK’s largest independent furniture retailer – has pledged to support Sarah by buying A2 prints of her designs, which will go on sale in stores all over the UK. Sarah’s interview on London Tonight, which also shows the artistic process itself, can be watched here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kpgKO6EMoU
All of the purchases will be in the design of Ezekiel’s painting ‘Popred’, with one hundred percent of the revenue they generate being donated to The Matt Hampson Foundation – an organisation which supports those who have suffered from serious injury or disability from sport-related activity. Additionally, all online sales of the painting will be donated to the Foundation. These can be purchased here: www.tictail.com/eye-gaze-artists
‘Popred’ (right) was an experiment by Sarah to try to create a piece of wall art. It took around five hours for her to paint, during which time she discovered new techniques within the software. The artwork was presented to the King and Queen of Sweden by Tobii (now Tobii Dynavox) in 2012. ‘Popred’ is priced at £180 for a framed A2 print.
To see Sarah’s art visit www.furniturevillage.co.uk/Magazine/Homepage.aspx