Creating the Braille Series

I began working with codes in my artwork in early 2020 after reading the book: “The Woman Who Smashed Codes”, by Jason Fagone. It is the story of Elizebeth Smith Friedman, the first female cryptanalyst. I became fascinated with her and the ciphers.

I realized we work with codes daily, from languages to color-coded folders. Even as a child, I remember the Dewey Decimal system, the code that explains how to categorize books by subject.

As my interest grew, I began researching all types of codes: bar code, morse code, binary code, and recently Braille. Louis Braille, who lost his site as a child, created Braille. It was the first binary form of writing. Braille is built on a 3x2 matrix. The arrangement of the dots on the 3x2 matrix determines the character.

Braille is a very tactile code, and so are textiles. I thought it would be interesting to combine two very tactile qualities. The only difference is that you are meant to run your fingers over the Braille in order to read it, but most art is not meant to be touched. I found this juxtaposition very intriguing and decided to do a series using Braille in a punch needle medium and exploring the phrases that included the word “touch”, such as “Do Not Touch”, “Out of Touch”, and “Keep in Touch”, to name a few.

See if you can decipher this piece: