Olivia Brouwer

Looping features in Pure Data software

I’ve finally finished the additional features that will accompany the synthesizer. This second portion is a looper which will allow sounds to be recorded, repeated and further manipulated with effects like graininess and speed. My next step is to test it with a microphone and midi control along with the synthesizer and figure out how the digital design will influence the physical laser cut design of the final synthesizer.

I’m also starting to think about what kind of tactile materials and abstract images would be interesting to offer as the prompts for audio and vibratory description. I’m thinking about the shapes of sound waves, soft or smooth contrasting with hard or sharp/rough textures, natural verses artificial materials, etc. I may explore an idea I recently had with a display like a scrabble tile rack where engagers have the agency to arrange tactile tiles and read them akin to the reading of Braille.

I was inspired by today’s meeting on Vital Capacities and the possibilities of creative online curation. I prefer to show my work in physical spaces, but seeing how others have curated access into their blogs and online exhibitions made me curious of how my synth can be exhibited online as well. I do feel that I may not reach my goal of a polished display by December, but I have a goal to work towards. I’d like to have a two or three channel video showing a demo of touching the tactile prompts, creating sounds that narrate the experience of touch, and a visual vibratory representation of the sounds. Each video could have captions of what the sounds and textures feel like and what the images look like. Lots to process and experiment with still, but I feel excited with this direction.

Synthesizer in Pure Data software

Listen:

Audio description: There is a consistent beat throughout the minute-long sound clip with overlapping sound waves, creating a sound similar to a running car that is idle. The sound is computerized and robotic, not like a musician breathing out into an instrument. A pitch bend slider is activated throughout the clip as well, changing the tone higher and lower. The second half of the clip introduces a secondary beat from changing one of the the sound wave oscillators. This becomes a tighter tapping beat which sounds like a fingernail tapping metal fairly quickly. These overlapping sounds change with fading and volume.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! After many weeks of trying to get somewhere with Pure Data, I finally found a tutorial that explains the step-by-step development of a synthesizer! What is shown in the image and audio test is how far I’ve come, which is a basic synthesizer with two oscillators, each with four different sound waves, pitch bend, a MIDI controller hookup, frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, filters, and attack, delay, sustain, and release features. I’m currently going through a second series of videos that will advance the features further. I’ve been following along with all the Pure Data tutorials from The Wayfarer Project on YouTube, which has been so helpful and informative. Without it, I would have really struggled to get to where I am now!

This synth will eventually be accessible through vibration, so the bass notes can not only be heard, but be felt as well. It will become a type of communication tool for creative image description of tactile art that is inclusive to Blind and Deaf audiences. I’m at a point where I have the foundation built but I will have to experiment further with how many features to offer and what that will look like in the final laser cut design. I may not have the final installation completed in time for the exhibit, but I’m excited to share this project in its current state now and however it will look like in the upcoming online exhibit!

Daily Rhythms: Delight

Daily Rhythms: Prayer

Daily Rhythms: Nearness

I’ve been sensing a push to share a bit more about how my work ties into my Christian faith. I find it difficult to be overt about anything religious because of fear for opposing beliefs and judgments. I know that this is a safe space to vulnerably share, so I hope that this doesn’t cause an offensive reaction to anyone.

My relationship with God as Creator is core to who I am and my purpose on earth, and so I am compelled to honour this in my own creations, reflecting the creative nature of the one who created me and sharing about faith itself in tandem with multi-sensory experiences that require interaction in order to receive clarity. I wish to present these spiritual teachings gently and subtly, as an invitation for those who might be curious.

Around the time of Jesus’ ministry, the Bible often talks about the disabled being excluded from entering the temple as they were considered unclean, but Jesus’ miraculous healing brought hope for all, creating a restored version of God’s original plan with the Garden of Eden. I try to apply this concept to the gallery space as it represents this kind of ocularcentric “temple” where, when disrupted, access to artworks and thoughtful curation casts a vision for inclusive and unifying restoration.

I found that reading some books by John Mark Comer, a pastoral figure, has been very helpful to process and find a simple lifestyle in a chaotic world, applying scripture in the times we live in. Here are some books that I would recommend if anyone is curious: Garden City, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, and Practicing the Way.

Inspired by Practicing the Way, I created Daily Rhythms, a series of blind embossed prints (some of which are attached to this post) which tactually and visually represent a spiritual practice that is foundational to my relationship with God. When I first started to think about this series, I was going through a time of absence from God. It was an interesting experience to create patterns as representations of a physical spiritual practice, and the act of touching and reading the work creates this beautiful intimacy that reflects my longing for a physical sign or tangible moment with God.

I’d like to end this post by sharing some Bible verses that I resinate with and often turn to for inspiration, guidance, and seeking God’s presence, some of which are specific to “seeing clearly” and having “restored vision”:

“We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

“And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight.” Acts 9:18a

My studio progress has been admittedly slow the past few weeks. After receiving news of a rejected grant application, I’ve been spending quite a bit of time applying for other grants to try to get the funds I need to keep creating new work.

In addition to this heavy administrative work, I’ve been reading more of The Agency of Access and researching other DIY synthesizer projects with Pure Data coding. Many YouTube tutorials and programmer blogs later, I still feel out of my element and am finding it hard to grasp the process and to understand how it will all come together. I did find Artis Lab, an experimental and interactive sound designer that has assembled and built a laser cut synthesizer coded with Pure Data that can also be manipulated with an app on an iPhone. I’ve attached a short video of one of Artis Lab’s synths that illustrates the direction of my project. Once I get a better handle on the coding part, I think the assembly and design of it will hopefully fall into place.

In my latest reading session of The Agency of Access, Amanda Cachia elaborates on the Fluxus movement, the history of visual authority as “visual culture”, and examples of descriptions, captions, alt text, Braille and sign language that possess vast creative possibilities as potential works of art in and of themselves, especially when involving multiple senses. Cachia gives many great examples of disability arts activists, but two examples struck me – Christine Sun Kim’s “[Closer Captions]” and Alison O’Daniel’s The Tuba Thieves videos, both of which share a creative deaf perspective and heightened awareness of sounds that hearing audiences would typically take for granted. I was intrigued that both artists translated sound into visual forms, colours, movement, and materials, using synesthesia as an open door to unique interpretations. I liked what Cachia says about O’Daniel’s work, “Rather than perceiving this strategy as a compensation for what is ‘lost’, the idea is to focus on what is gained, in line with the rhetoric of deaf gain. …deaf gain focuses on the creative and intellectual benefits of deafness and turns around pejorative ideas of lack regarding the state of deafness” (pg 91). This idea of disability as gain over what is typically considered a loss is something I want to highlight in my work and how I communicate with my audience in order to build confidence in myself and become a stronger advocate for the Blind and low vision community.

Before reading this book, my latest body of work has been exploring multi-sensory language and the translations that form from the audience’s experience while simultaneously disrupting the ocularcentric culture and behavioural etiquette of gallery visitation. It is affirming to see this idea is a common thread within access aesthetics. I am hopeful and inspired by what I’ve learned so far from Cachia’s observations.

I was invited to speak to high school students at the W. Ross Macdonald school for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario on Friday, September 26th from a career coaching organization, called HEIC, and participate as a panelist with a group of Blind and low vision folks from all kinds of careers and backgrounds. I and the panelists were asked to answer questions related to our experiences in high school, post-secondary school, and how we developed our career path.

Public speaking is not my strong suit, especially when it’s to young people who need engaging and inspiring speakers, but I tried to answer in ways that would be beneficial to my younger self.

I found the panelists’ journeys very interesting; some were Blind from birth, some became Blind later in life, some knew what they wanted to do as a career, some changed careers multiple times. I connected with Yvonne Felix, who is the Executive Director at Centre[3], a gallery where I am a current board member of, and Yin Brown, the Manager of Accessibility and Inclusion at George Brown College. With opportunities like this that come out of the blue, I’m finding it easier to make connections and network with like-minded people as I continue developing my artistic career, despite the challenge of coming out of my introverted shell.

One of the panelists was answering a question about how hobbies impact work and she was describing her love for knitting and crocheting, but mentioned that she was upset when sighted folks say that they could never make something like what she made. She had to learn those skills without the luxury of vision, and when someone with vision disregarded her Blindness, she became frustrated with this lack of awareness and refusal to try to learn. Her frustration and reason for it really struck me and I thought that stories like these should be shared to bring awareness of care.

One student had asked the panel the daily challenges we faced in our careers with our disability, and I, not being completely Blind, felt a bit out of place amongst the fully Blind panelists. I felt that my answer was from a place of privilege as I still rely on my vision, and so I sometimes struggle with fitting in with the Blind community. I don’t want to pretend that I understand their lifelong experience with Blindness, but as I have both sight and Blindness, I see myself as a bridge between the two groups, which comes out in my artwork. It’s still a complicated thing I wrestle with, but I’m finding that art has been a medium that I can best express these emotions openly and still inspire people of all abilities.

Overall, this was a great exercise that opened some possible doors for collaboration with the school, with my fellow panelists, and potentially with the students. With an exhibition coming up in my hometown, Cambridge, in 2027, I’m thinking of partnering with the W. Ross Macdonald school for a talk/workshop/tour exclusively for the students and teachers. I need to grow my network of folks from the Blind community from all ages in order to cultivate and encourage a safe space and accessible culture in visually dominant spaces.

Synthesizer model

Pure Data code for synthesizer

Sketch of booth installation with synthesizer inside

Today, I’d like to share a project that originally started from my residency with VibraFusion Lab back in September 2024 and am now preparing for its exhibition in February 2026. Sadly, I recently got the news that it did not receive funding. This was a huge disappointment, but I’m so determined to continue this project despite not having financial support (as of right now anyway).

This installation is a synthesizer programmed by Pure Data, a coding software that, when interacting with the touch-activated synthesizer, will create sounds and vibrations inside and outside of the booth. The engager inside the booth, who remains unseen, will be invited to translate tactile prompts into sounds and vibrations as a unique language and form of communication to the engager outside of the booth. By removing the need for visual communication, this artwork addresses communication creatively in hopes of equalizing audiences of all abilities.

I’ve never done anything like this multi-sensory installation before. I’m slightly intimidated by it, especially learning the technology side of it, but I have confidence that it’s going to grow my artistic abilities and also have a positive reaction from my audience. My goal is to get some progress done with it by the end of this residency so that I can share it for the December online exhibit with Sync, as well as the exhibit with VibraFusion Lab in February. The February show will be helpful to receive feedback for further refinements before a solo exhibit I’m preparing for in January 2027.

The Agency of Access by Amanda Cachia

A few weeks into the Sync program, I grabbed a copy of Amanda Cachia’s latest book called, The Agency of Access: Contemporary Disability Art & Institutional Critique, which has been on my list of books to read since it came out. I’ve nearly completed the introductory chapter, which goes through everything that the rest of the book will address, and I’m finding it so relevant to how I approach my practice in terms of disability advocacy and a unique multi-sensory language that unites audiences. It has a great explanation of disability rights history and art history, including institutional critique, and how this history has evolved to present day. I don’t often read dense, academic art theory materials, but I found this book to be easy to follow, practical to a disability-related art practice, and interesting to learn. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in disability arts justice.

Mobile model of mental workflow

We had our first session on September 10th, 2025 where we were introduced to each other and our practices, discussed blockages and facilitators through model-making, and discovered what our top leadership drivers are.

During a short model-making period, I created a mobile sculpture from materials I prepared for a past tactile workshop that illustrated a mental workflow for how I approach a project, which can be quite chaotic but it eventually all comes together. I often start a project by collecting images that inspire me that then link to a central theme. That theme then develops ideas for projects that also stem more ideas of how it should be made, how to interact with it, what size it should be, why is it important, etc. In the creative process, my mind often feels like it’s suspending many thoughts about that project at once that are connected by a thin thread, similar to the shape of the mobile I created. I am driven by inspiration and creativity, but, sometimes, I will run into an artist block – something that hinders the process of creation, or I will have trouble with indecision. I’ve added some translucent pieces that are tied in between the floating ideas to represent my personal blocks from project progression.

From our session, I’ve also learned that my top leadership drivers are aesthetics, recognition, altruism, security, and tradition. It has been helpful to understand the exact characteristics of what I am motivated by to do the work that I do and what sort of leader that I currently am.