David Bobier is a self-identified hard of hearing media artist with a mental health diagnosis and is the parent of 2 deaf children, now adults. His work has been exhibited internationally and has been the focus of prominent touring exhibitions in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Bobier has received grants from Canada Council for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Grand NCE, British Council, Ontario Arts Council and New Brunswick Arts Council.
He has partnered with Inclusive Media and Design Centre at Ryerson University, Toronto and Tactile Audio Displays Inc. in researching and employing vibrotactile technology as a creative medium. As an extension of this research Bobier has established and is Director of VibraFusionLab in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Lab emphasizes a holistic approach to considering vibration as a language of creation and exploration and to investigating broader and more inclusive applications of the sensory interpretation and emotionality of sound and vibration in art making practices. Through VibraFusionLab and in his own art practice Bobier aims at creating opportunities of greater accessibility in art making, art appreciation and in viewer experiences of art practices and presentations.
Leslie Putnam is a London Ontario based Artist and Educator. She earned her BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec with a Major in Studio Art and BEd from Western University in London, Ontario.Putnam’s work includes exhibitions in Europe and now in Ontario, her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions including Electric Eclectics, Toronto-(Nuit Blanche and Hard Twist), JNAAG, Museum London and the Canadian Clay and Glass Museum. She has received research, exhibition, and multi and inter arts projects grants from the Ontario Arts Council.
As a multi-disciplinary artist, Leslie creates multi-modal sculptures and installations on the premise that sculpture can and should include the ability of access though multiple senses, removing the barrier of “do not touch”created by the limitations of institutions. In 2010 she and David Bobier formed the o’honey collective as a platform for research and creation relating to the natural world.
