The Women in Art Prize: Overall Winner and The Printing Prize
Bianca Raffaella is a British artist, activist, and public speaker whose ethereal paintings invite viewers into a world shaped by memory, touch, and fragmented perception.
As a registered blind artist, Raffaella works from sensory cues rather than direct observation, creating floral and figurative paintings that capture fleeting moments suspended in what she describes as “persistent vision”—where images appear briefly as faint shadows or flickers of light. Her canvases, rendered in soft dusty pinks, muted blues, and gentle beiges, have been described by Jonathan Jones in The Guardian as “ethereally beautiful works.”
Raffaella’s process is deeply tactile, informed by her experience as a braillist until her late teens. Never losing contact with the canvas, she applies paint directly with her hands, blending delicate hues until they become hushed impressions. Details emerge through fingertips, brushstrokes, and scrapes of a palette knife. Her ongoing series of textural flower paintings evokes her experience of beauty in braille—the method through which she first learned to read and write.
In 2016, Raffaella made history as the first registered blind student to graduate from Kingston University with a First-Class Honours degree in Visual Arts. Since then, her career has flourished. She was awarded the Women in Art Prize Overall Winner as well as The Printing Prize, recognition that helped spotlight her extraordinary talent and unique perspective.
In 2023, she was selected by Dame Tracey Emin for the inaugural Tracey Emin Artist Residency (TEAR) at TKE Studios in Margate, where she continues to work today. The following year, Emin chose her for Flowers Gallery’s prestigious “Artist of the Day” programme, leading to gallery representation and her first major solo exhibition, Faint Memories, in February 2025.
Her work has been featured in the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition (curated by Yinka Shonibare), and she has held solo exhibitions including Hushed Impressions at Orleans House Gallery. Harper’s Bazaar named her one of “Three To Watch: Hotly Tipped Female Talent of the British Art Scene.”
A passionate advocate for accessibility in the arts, Raffaella has spoken at the Goethe Institut’s Beyond Seeing project and served as a panellist at Tate Modern’s “Please Touch the Art” talk. She believes that exposure to diverse perspectives is key to breaking down societal stigmas and barrier
“I’m recognised as an artist, not a ‘blind artist,'” Raffaella has said. “Adversity and perceived limitations have shaped me as an artist and as a person.”
Instagram: @biancaraffaella