Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital: Kay Lovesah’s Faces of London (11.3.2019)

Worldwide visual impairment is a major factor in human existence. This ranges from the common short and long sight correctable by simple lenses on the one hand, to rare and obscure visual disabilities and complete blindness on the other. This realm of physical dysfunction feeds into the broader area of general human disability. Within the capitalist West disability is treated as an ‘invalidation’ of the worker, with each disabled (or ‘other abled’) individual treated as an unprofitable hindrance to the continuous search for profit. Within Socialist Systems, disabled people are treated with respect and viewed first and foremost as ‘human-beings’ with specific needs just beyond those of the majority of the population. These needs are met with the same compassion that ALL people are treated in a society where discrimination is outlawed as an unwanted mode of primitive living. How different this is from the modern UK, where the Tory-LibDems ‘Austerity’ drive (since 2010) has led to the deaths of at least 120,000 vulnerable people due to the sudden stopping of Benefit Payments, Social Service Assistance and NHS Medical Care.

Those disabled people who have survived this ‘cull’ are expected to get jobs that do not exist, in a ruthless system that does not have to lawfully employ them! Many disabled people have cognitive impairments, or such debilitating illness, injuries and genetic issues that mean they cannot survive on their own in the brutal system that is predatory capitalism. Some people have disabilities that are not obvious and can be hidden from view, or suitably engaged in some other form of employment, whilst they move through life trying the best they can. Today, whilst visiting Moorfields NHS Eye Hospital in London for a checkup, I came across the work of Kay Lovesah being exhibited. I do not know Kay Lovesah and what I write here are only my own viewpoints presented my personal blog, but Kay Lovesah has taken a disability and adapted it to positively serve her impulse to produce artwork of a professional standard.