Below Awareness (2026)
Centre 3 and Vibrafusion Lab, Hamilton, Ontario

Runs until April 25, 2026

Mediums: hydrophone recordings, vibrotactile, soft interactive sculpture, Hydrasynth Explorer Synthesizer, textiles, sound playing through omnidirectional speaker.

Thank you to Becca Love, Alida Esmail, Santiago Tamayo Soler, Bronson Smillie, Mike Cassidy and Fili 周 Gibbons for access support

Below Awareness - is a multi-sensory installation exploring presence, disruption, and encounter within aquatic environments. Using hydrophone recordings from Hamilton's waterways, the work captures layered moments: geese calling to each other - their webbed feet swishing underwater, the playful imagining of small beings making unidentifiable sounds, and the unexpected arrival of a train—its vibrations traveling through water and earth, audible below the surface well before it became visible above.

Through synthesized sound, vibrotactile translation of hydrophone recordings, fabric collage, and soft sculpture, the work holds space for both wonder and disturbance. Textile forms imagine the creatures encountered during recording—a playful speculation on who shares these underwater worlds. Meanwhile, haptic elements translate the contrast between tranquility and industrial intrusion, inviting visitors to feel the subsonic tremor that announces disruption before arrival.

The piece asks: who and what do we encounter when we listen beneath the surface? How does industrial activity permeate these shared environments in ways that exceed immediate perception? What coexists in spaces we might otherwise perceive as simply peaceful or simply disrupted?

Touch notes taken from exhibtion.

Feel free to sit down and touch and hold the sculpture - it vibrates with underwater recordings and music made by the artist. Let the sonic environment guide your sensory experience while you explore the different textures and layers of the fabric such as the pearls, sequins, ropes and mesh fabrics.

The pillows located next to the sculpture are also vibrating with the same soundscapes in the larger pillow.

There are some samples of fabric and materials used in the larger sculpture available for you to play/stim with located in a wicker basket next to the work.