Before the blindness, Moody painted house interiors with her sister and was a custom framer. The onset of her eye condition, however, left her unable to perform either job and put her creative work temporarily on hold.
"I learned an interesting lesson about sight and vision," Moody says. "The eye condition gave me a real push to start defining myself as artist and what my vision was because it actually had very little to do with my sight."
As a result, Moody's work moved from detail-oriented realistic renderings to what she calls collage-assemblage, mixed-media pieces that frequently infuse a combination of photographs, text and other found objects, anything from an old teacup to a handful of black-eyed peas.
"Found objects contain spirit," she says. "Those things, whether a photo or the way a word will trigger a memory or the object itself, all have meaning of their own. They may have been discarded and may not have any material value, but when you bring them into a piece, they become symbolic and they help tell a story."
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'Free Spirits'
'The Art of Charles Dickson & Dominique Moody'
Where: Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., L.A.
When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays; noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Ends: April 9
Price: $5 adults; $3 seniors and students; free on first Wednesday of every month and for children 12 and younger
Info: (323) 937-4230, www.cafam.org
Also
What: Artist lectures
When: Charles Dickson, 3 p.m. Feb. 19; Dominique Moody, 3 p.m. March 26
Price: Free with admission
