A Response to Jenny McMaster’s Hare in Situ by Vision Impaired Art Lover Shelley Ann Morris

Hare in Situ at the Ottawa Art Gallery, February 2022, Photo-credit Justin Wonnacott

This spring my Master of Fine Arts exhibition Hare in Situ (one part of Abound) opened at the Ottawa Art Gallery. The pandemic was a challenging time to be doing my Master, with many delays, pivots to virtual education, blocks to access to studio space and sometimes to supplies. We had to be very adaptable. However, it was a wonderful time to be forced to be working with your hands, and directly engaging with materials. While other students were glued to a screen for most of their education. I was gluing objects together with papier-maché, dying paper pulp and soldering together contact microphones. Even though I’d describe myself as a visual artist, I’ve always been very interested in texture and touch. Over the course of my MFA, I stumbled into the auditory dimensions of the stuff I was using, and decided it was important to weave this into my finished work.

When the OAG asked me what I wanted to do for the public engagement aspect of my exhibition I didn’t have to think about it much. As my work was as much sonic and tactile as it was visual, I was very curious how members of the blind community would experience my exhibition. I teamed up with the blind storyteller Kim Kilpatrick to create a workshop primarily for the seeing impaired but open to anyone. Learning to create programming for those who are differently abled obliges us to think and speak differently and this can only be good for our creative process!

Below is a response to my exhibition from Shelley Ann Morris, an art lover with low vision who attended my workshop on March 6, 2022. I’d like to extend my great thanks to Kim for helping me plan what was a very valuable and interesting afternoon and Shelley for coming and being such an enthusiastic participant.

I was invited to visit the Ottawa Art Gallery for an experience that emphasized the importance of touch and hearing. The exhibit’s creator, Jennifer McMaster, had put a lot of creativity into a piece that demonstrated the close relationship that animals have to nature. As someone with low vision, I was able to fully enjoy her work. We were given gloves to wear, as we were given to the opportunity to touch and interact with the pieces.

At one end of the room there were some animations on a screen. Words strung their way across the screen, very much like roots of a tree. These images were accompanied by a soundtrack that was made up of ‘artmaking’ sounds, such as handmade paper being cut with scissors and bean pods with seeds inside being spilled out onto a surface. We were then invited to touch a piece that resembled a tree with many roots. It had been created with a variety of objects, including recycled take-out coffee cups, picture wire and other materials—the piece had numerous textures and was very interesting both to touch and to see.

We learned about trees—how their network of roots allowed them to communicate—it is said that trees can ‘scream’ when they are stressed or in pain. Other pieces were in the room, including a spooky-looking willow tree. We were invited to pet a large hare that contained a microphone. As we did, the sound of our hands on was picked up and amplified, making for a very audible, tactile piece. I was able to see it with my limited sight. Jenny recognized the importance of sound as her cat’s purr was very comforting over the last two years.

After we had explored all of the works of art, we sat down, and were handed a bag of items which were used in the creation of the pieces so that we could appreciate them on their own. As we opened the bags and explored the treasures within, Jenny asked us to reflect on what we missed most during the pandemic. She also asked us to reflect on what good had come out of COVID. Jenny explained how the numerous lockdowns had inspired her to create this magnificent piece that those with and without vision could all enjoy.

I have visited art galleries in the past. More and more, galleries are becoming accessible to all, including those of us with low or no vision. In the 1990s audio descriptions on cassette tape and then on CD were being made available. Even if you could not touch the exhibit itself, you could hear about them. Additionally, I always loved exhibits that included sound and or music. Some exhibits allowed the visitors to interact with them--that was always so much better.

What I liked best about Jenny’s exhibit is that it was quite interactive. It involved using our senses of hearing and touch. I also loved how she described all of the different pieces and what they meant or represented. I came away having learned something. I also enjoyed learning about the creative process that she used in making the exhibit and how she found inspiration during a very difficult time. It reminded me that out of adversity comes very creative works of art--some of the best movies, songs and exhibits were brought about during difficult times such as war and economic depression. I loved petting the hare and hearing the sounds of our hands amplified as we did so. I also enjoyed hearing the sounds of the 'artmaking' as the soundtrack. I loved having a bag of items to feel and interact with--especially the bean pod--it made a sound. I loved how we had the opportunity to discuss what we missed, and what good had come out of the pandemic.