BIO
Born in Vancouver in 1986, Salima Punjani is a multisensory artist whose mediums include social sculpture, vibrotactile, spatial sound, digital video and photography and relational aesthetics. Her artistic approach is rooted in trauma-informed care and disability justice. She uses multiple senses to expand the possibilities to welcome Disabled people into art spaces by creating artful experiences of empathy, intimacy, and connection. Her recent work explores themes such as softness and anti-urgency, collective grief, isolation and resocialization processes related to COVID-19, rest as resistance to systemic injustice as well as how medical data can be subverted into finding human connection rather than pathologies. She holds a B.A. in Communications and Political Science from Carleton University, a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from Concordia University and a Master’s in Social Work from McGill University with research focusing on the intersection of the arts and care work.
STATEMENT
Progression is a multisensory, interactive installation that superimposes in real time the narratives of people with multiple sclerosis on their EEGs and brain MRIs. It features various sensory entry points such as visual and tactile photographs, audio narratives, and vibratory sound elements.
Year of creation: 2018
Techniques and materials: Vibrotactile transducers, laser engraved photos on plywood, MRI scans, EEG signals, audio narratives.
Dimensions: 3x (18” x 18” x 12”)
