Why Tactile Art, Action Figures, and Messy Glue Make Perfect Sense

Image: A shiny silver embossed metal plaque in a black frame, bordered on all four sides with small translucent yellow-green stones. The metal surface has a raised cartoon-like frog face near the center, with wide eyes and a broad smile, and long arms stretching outward to the left and right. Along the bottom half, there are many raised circular shapes arranged in rows, resembling coins or bubbles. Near the top center-left, there are several short lines of small raised dots that look like Braille text.

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Some people look at my tactile frames and say, “Wow… that glue is everywhere. It looks sloppy.” And I just smile. Because here’s the truth: yes, it’s messy. Yes, you can see the glue. And yes, it is totally meant to be that way.

I’m a blind artist. I build every frame by hand. I go over every crack and crevice with glue to make sure every seashell and gemstone is firmly embedded, so when you touch it — really touch it — it survives. The glue showing? That’s proof. Proof of process, proof of care, proof of hands that made this happen. This isn’t about perfection; it’s about intimacy, tactile honesty, and human touch.

Image: A shiny silver embossed metal plaque in a square frame bordered with round brown beads. The raised design shows a mermaid with long flowing hair sitting on a rock, with her fish tail curling up to the right. The base of the rock has a textured, drippy-looking pattern. Along the bottom inside the frame there’s a row of small seashells, with a couple of small starfish shapes mixed in. In the upper right area there are several short lines of raised dots that look like Braille text.

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It reminds me of a story from my childhood. Long ago, I was having dinner with my dad at a fancy restaurant, trying — very unsuccessfully — to eat a bone-in barbecue duck with chopsticks. I kept dropping pieces, fumbling with the bones, getting frustrated. My dad finally said, “Why are you doing that? Stop fucking with it. Pick it up with your hand. Enjoy your food. That’s what the food is for.”

That’s exactly my art. Stop trying to make it look perfect. Stop trying to fit it into some rigid standard. Pick it up, touch it, explore it, enjoy it. Let it be what it is — messy, tactile, and utterly human. FYI :) if I wanted them to look spotless and without the glue showing, I could simply pay a sighted friend to glue the gems/seashells on for me.

Image: A square resin artwork fills the frame.

Border: A thick frame made of small crushed-stone pieces in pale yellow, amber, and translucent tones. Just inside that is a continuous ring of darker brown, rounded bead-like stones.

Center panel: A dark gray background with a shiny, raised metallic design of a coiled dragon. The dragon’s head is toward the upper right, with horn-like shapes and whisker-like lines; its long body loops in a large coil and continues down and around toward the lower right. Along the dragon’s back and edges are spiky ridge details. There are also small raised dot clusters on the left side of the gray area and some cloudy, whitish patches near the lower left.

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It’s the same philosophy that guided me as a kid with action figures. I never got into fragile Japanese collectibles like BB Senshi Gundams or delicate Dragon Ball figurines. They were made to be looked at, not handled — the moment you touched them, they’d fall apart. I wanted chunky, solid, resilient action figures like Spawn, Incredible Hulk, or kaiju figures. Something I could grab, pose, and immerse myself in. That tactile instinct never left me, and it’s exactly what drives my tactile art today.

Image: A fantasy figurine is centered, mounted on a clear round plastic base with a triangular logo and the word “AVATAR” printed on it. A clear support rod rises from the base to hold the figure in a flying pose.

The creature has a long gray beak/jaw with visible teeth and is facing to the right. Its wings are spread wide, colored orange with black mottled markings, with small teal strap-like details near the body.

A female rider with light skin and blonde hair sits on the creature’s back. She wears green armor with teal accents and holds a long spear angled downward.

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People sometimes tell me I sound like I’m hiding behind my disability when I explain, “Of course it’s messy, I’m blind and it’s hand-built.” But that’s not hiding. That’s naming reality. Just like my YouTube videos are instantly recognizable as the work of a blind filmmaker — framing imperfect, angles a little off — my tactile art wears its process proudly. It communicates human effort and presence, and anyone who touches it feels that immediately.

And yes, I do have a youtube channel :)

And honestly, I love telling people sometimes: my art is like good sex, or a perfect hamburger, or a delicious pizza. It’s messy. It gets everywhere. And it’s simply divine.

Image: A square metallic-looking embossed artwork with two cartoon-style cats on a shiny silver background.

Left cat: standing upright, facing forward, with both arms raised and a smiling face. It has a collar with a rectangular tag and a long tail curving behind.

Right cat: in a dancing pose, turned slightly left, one leg lifted and one arm bent up. It also has a collar and a long tail curling behind.

Around the edges is a narrow gold-toned frame with small copper-colored bead clusters, heavier along the top edge. Near the bottom left there are small raised dot patterns. In the bottom right corner there’s a solid black rectangular patch.

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This instinct to prioritize process, tactility, and interaction over polished perfection extends from my childhood into my work today. My collection of action figures, my love for chunky kaiju, and even my frustration with chibi-style figures all point to the same truth: I value interaction, substance, and physical experience. My art is meant to be held, explored, and felt — not just looked at.

So yes, some museums and galleries might frown at glue showing, imperfect edges, or unconventional frames. But outside that bubble, most people get it. They feel the care, the texture, the tactile story, and they love it. And that’s who I make my art for: people who want to experience it, not just admire it from afar.

Image: A square mixed-media artwork with a shiny embossed metallic panel in the center and a seashell border.

Center panel: A dark, reflective metallic background with raised outlines of two sharks. One larger shark curves across the middle-left, mouth open with teeth showing, and a smaller shark is vertical along the right edge, also with an open mouth. Across the top is a raised horizontal line with a small boat-like shape near the middle. Near the bottom left are small wave-like shapes, and along the bottom are rows of tiny raised dots.

Border: Small white ridged seashells line the left, right, and bottom edges. Along the top edge are many small shells and numerous small round “googly-eye” decorations (white circles with black pupils), plus a couple of larger shells near the top center. At the bottom right corner there’s a small cluster of shells and a tan pebble.

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If you want to explore more of my tactile work, check out my websites johnnytiger.com and tigertactile.com. Every piece has a story. Every texture is intentional. And yes, every fingerprint, shell, and gemstone is lovingly glued in place.

Image: A square resin artwork with a dark teal-green, shiny embossed center panel. In the middle is a raised turtle, viewed from above, with a round shell and four legs spread out; the head points upward. Around the turtle are various raised textures and shapes, including a thick textured form on the left, a large triangular textured area on the right, and patterned patches across the bottom.

The center panel is framed by a border of evenly spaced metallic gray round beads. Outside that is a thicker outer border made of small black and teal stones or gravel-like pieces, with a few lighter specks mixed in.

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#TactileArt #BlindArtists #HandmadeWithLove #ActionFigureAesthetic #KaijuLovers #MessyArtIsBeautiful #GlueAndGems #InteractiveArt #JohnnyTiger