This sculpture is bringing light to hearing loss

Giving sight to an invisible condition is what a local artist has brought to life.

In The Glass Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery, four sculptures create a representational model of the bones in the inner and middle ear, which are integral to processing sound.

But what happens when those bones aren’t working?

Kelsie Balehowsky didn’t know much about hearing loss until her son was born with a type of sensorineural hearing loss. This means without his hearing aids he can hear some sounds, but not certain frequencies such as birds chirping or water in a river.

“There wasn’t really anybody in my family or immediate surroundings that had hearing loss,” Balehowsky told Kelowna10. “This was something that opened up my eyes to the hearing loss and deaf community, and accessibility, and the stigma they endure.”

Frosted vinyl surrounds the installation, making the sculptures inside only visible through waveform cutouts, giving audiences the feeling of distortion.

“Because it was in a window space, I thought it would be perfect to add one more element to the exhibition,” she said. “It added an extra element of not having the clarity you needed, which I thought was kind of an interesting metaphor for what hearing loss looks like.”

A QR code to a hearing loss simulator is also included in the exhibition, giving viewers an interactive component to explore the complications of those experiencing hearing loss.

Paper mâché and home hardware materials were used to create the large bones, which were then painted a metallic gold colour. Balehowsky said she painted them gold to symbolize the importance of those bones when it comes to hearing.

“I just wanted to shine a light on hearing loss and use art as a way to do that,” she said. “Kind of start a conversation about what would it look like to create a more accessible world for people.”

She has an artistic background in photography and printmaking but decided to try a new medium when she came back to art after she took a short break when her son was born.

“I really wanted to use my hands and explore a new material, try something new, and become an amateur again,” she explained. “Using art as a tool to communicate something that I’m experiencing trying to put it in a visual way.”

Sensorineural will be in The Glass Gallery until Sept. 18.