Solo art show in Vancouver explores non-verbal communication
All the Hands You Cannot See by Laurie M. Landry exhibits paintings of hands making gestures
Laurie M. Landry celebrated her exhibit with a closing ceremony on March 7 at Vancouver's August Studios. (Mariia Potiatynyk)
For artist Laurie M. Landry, hands are means of communication. Landry is deaf — which is why exhibiting All the Hands You Cannot See is an opportunity to showcase the non-verbal communication she has been using in her everyday life.
The solo art show was presented by Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture, a non-profit organization promoting artists working within disability arts and culture and supporting disabled artists across Canada.
“When someone talks to me, I miss about 70 to 80 per cent of what is being said, so I only catch about 30 per cent. If I don’t have an interpreter, then I can’t fully understand what you’re saying,” Landry says.
Being a deaf artist, she wants to address this invisibility in her work.
The art show, which started with an opening ceremony at the studio on Feb. 26, included an artist-mentor talk on March 1, and concluded with a closing ceremony on March 7. The exhibition ran until March 8 at August Studios on East Pender Street in Vancouver.
The closing ceremony gave attendees a last chance to view Landry’s work while also taking part in a live painting activity, where they could draw a live model.
Landry’s paintings are made on a transparent material called Mylar, featuring hands depicting American Sign Language (ASL) gestures and non-ASL signs.
Using Mylar allowed viewers to see the paintings from both sides, making it a “two-way” communication, Landry says.
“When I sign, I’m seeing my side — and what you see is different. I wanted to focus on both sides,” Landry says, adding she wanted people to look at paintings as both communicators and receivers.
Landry is also a recipient of the 2025 Geoff McMurchy Artist Development Grant, which is awarded annually in the legacy of Kickstart’s founding artistic director, who was an advocate for the disability arts community.
The grant provides a cash award for artistic-related costs, solo exhibition presentation, and mentorship to support artists in their artistic development.
For Landry, when she thinks about the exhibition, she thinks about community. She says Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture gave her the means to present the exhibit and support disabled artists.
“Working with these beautiful people makes me feel very supported in creating work for them.”
For more information about the Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture, visit www.kickstartdisability.ca.
