In Excellent Speakers, I would like to allow paper and other fibres to be the vehicle for auditory expression. These sculptures resemble fungus and plants now believed to be in continuous conversation with each other. Recent research has shown that some species of mushrooms have up to a fifty-word vocabulary.
The materials, shapes, and textures of the sculptures facilitate various sounds when they are touched. Many are built using contact microphones, although some are purely acoustic. I believe examining sound and touch can help us re-evaluate our identity and our participation with the more-than-human world that surrounds us.  It is always shared; it does not exist otherwise. I hope to facilitate a sense of fellow-feeling with organisms very different from us. Resonance is another way of experiencing shapes, substances, and living tissues.

Moving past the dominance of the sense of sight is an important aspect of this project. I would like my work to be accessible to the blind, as sound and tactility are as important as colours and light in my work. Accessibility should not be considered a series of hurdles but an opportunity to learn to use new tools, speak and build things differently, and open our senses and perceptions to new experiences. 
I have worked with accessibility expert Kim Kilpatrick to give direction on the installation of this exhibition as well as write audio descriptions of the works. We are also collaborating on touch-tours geared toward the blind and low-sighted, but which anyone can enjoy.

While many of the sounds in this exhibition are live, some are from recordings triggered by motion sensors. These recordings were created using my handmade stringed instruments in collaboration with violist Maren Kathleen Elliott. To hear the sound track visit: https://rayesound.bandcamp.com/album/excellent-speakers-and-listening-organisms