All the Hands You Cannot See - Laurie Landry: Artist-Mentor Chat

Enjoy Laurie Landry's solo show and participate in a moderated discussion between her and her mentors at this community-focused event.

About Laurie Landry (Artist):

Laurie M. Landry is a Deaf Canadian contemporary artist particularly intrigued by the ways in which hands and bodies can communicate ideas without speaking. In her oil paintings on canvas and panels, she focuses on the power of hands to convey meaning and emphasize unspoken statements, using gestural imagery with contemporary subjects.

Landry has participated in guided artist residencies across Canada, and her work has been exhibited in art galleries nationwide. She has also curated a group exhibition featuring figurative works by contemporary female artists exploring themes of youth and aging bodies. She holds a Certificate in Fine Arts Techniques from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and has been awarded grants from both the BC Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts to support her art practice. Her work has been featured in American Art Collector and Create! Magazine. Landry currently lives and works in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tseil-Waututh) Nations.

About Kay Slater (Mentor):

Kay is a multidisciplinary artist and Creative Problem Solver exploring value, access, process, silence, and care. Their work spans illustration, sculpture, exhibition design, writing, and participatory practices, challenging productivity-based notions of worth and conventional ideas of access. Kay is a queer, hard of hearing, mad, non-binary artist whose practice is grounded in disability justice, radical silence, and collective liberation. They are currently employed at grunt gallery as the Exhibitions and Accessibility Manager.

About Yuri Arajs:

Yuri Arajs is a dedicated artist, curator, and advocate whose career spans over two decades of championing underrepresented voices in the arts—particularly artists with disabilities and those working outside traditional frameworks...Based in Vancouver, BC, Yuri is the Artistic Director and Curator of Outsiders and Others, a contemporary art gallery focused on self-taught and non-traditional artists. He previously served as Artistic Director of Kickstart Disability Arts and Culture, helping to expand the visibility and opportunities for artists with disabilities across Canada.

About All The Hands You Cannot See:

“All the Hands You Cannot See explores the language of hands—both the seen and the overlooked—through oil paintings on transparent Mylar and YUPO, as well as canvas. By utilizing both sides of Mylar and the translucency of YUPO, I collapse the distance between the signer and the witness into a single, layered image. This technique creates a physical dialogue where the perspective of the speaker and the listener coexist, inviting the viewer to occupy both roles simultaneously.

In this body of work, ASL signs and universal gestures are rendered iconic and larger than life. They navigate the boundaries between hearing and Deaf cultures, reaching toward a broader vocabulary of human connection that transcends spoken language. These works argue that a gesture requires no formal training to be felt; its meaning lives in the urgency of a shape or the curve of a palm.

The title carries a dual weight. It addresses the systemic invisibility of Deaf and disabled artists in spaces that prioritize a narrow aesthetic—those of us whose ways of being are often erased by a society unequipped to see us. Simultaneously, it acknowledges the quiet, supporting hands that remain present when depression and anxiety cloud our perception. These paintings serve as a reminder that we are held by networks of care and mutual aid, even—and especially—when they are invisible to us.

Through transparency and double-sided imagery, I ask the viewer to look through and look beyond. Ultimately, the work is an invitation to witness what has always been there: the hands that speak, the hands that support, and the hands we can no longer afford to overlook.”

About the Geoff McMurchy Artist Development Grant:

The grant was created to honour the legacy and continue the vision of Geoff McMurchy (1955–2015), who was not only Kickstart's founding artistic director but also a lifelong pioneer in the disability arts community. It includes $7,000, a solo art show, and one-on-one mentorship. Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture offers the grant to disabled artists every year.

The Geoff McMurchy Artist Development Grant is supported by TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.

Access Information

Kickstart Staff visited 1320 East Pender Street, August Studios, in January and confirmed its physical accessibility for people with mobility aids, including people who use power wheelchairs and scooters. Masks are welcome. There will be a HEPA air purifier in the space at all times. Please be aware that a variety of safety precautions will be utilized for this event as lip-reading will be necessary for several participants.

If you have questions about the venue and/or access, please contact our Access Coordinator, Jess, at [email protected].

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