f s th is an ongoing art project exploring Emma's diagnosis of single-sided deafness (SSD).
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Emma uses different mediums to navigate her identity as someone who is deaf/hard of hearing whilst living in a predominantly hearing world.
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"As someone who is hard of hearing (hoh) I find it difficult to explain what it’s like trying to communicate in a world where there is very little accessibility or understanding for deaf/hoh people.
Throughout my childhood, I wasn’t treated for hearing loss. I grew up as though I was fully
hearing and behaved as though I was. I had no exposure to learning about hearing loss, the
deaf community, or deaf culture. I regularly find myself trying to explain to hearing people what my everyday experience with hearing loss is like.
Specific experiences with hearing loss is very difficult to put into words. How do I explain what I cannot hear? How do I explain that what I can hear isn't how they'll hear?
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Like how I've always used art as a practice of discovering and analysing, I'm using art to create diagrams of hearing loss or to create visual immersive experiences that forces people to experience the world as I do."
Tinnitus Awareness Week 2023
This is my first artwork as part of the f s th project, Monsters of Tinnitus.
As part of Tinnitus awareness week, I created 4 monsters that embody the different kinds of tinnitus I experience.
With being hard of hearing (deaf in my right ear) tinnitus is a big part of my experience, every single day.
Every morning I’m woken up by a static noise in my right ear.
Throughout the day (usually when I’m trying to focus on something or in a quiet space) I get high-pitched ringing noises.
Sometimes tinnitus sounds can be loud enough to override natural sounds making it more difficult to process sound. But these sounds are part of my relationship with hearing loss and how I experience everyday life.