Artist's Statement
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Sounds of a Life Well-Loved explores pleasure and presence at life &rsquo\;s end through sound. By \;collecting and weaving participants& rsquo\; most comforting and meaningful sounds into an immersive \;&ldq uo\;Death Nest&rdquo\; installation\, the project asks: How can we reclaim what a good death looks like? \;How does engaging our final sense res hape the way we live\, connect\, and witness one \;another?
\nAs we approach the end of life\, hearing is often understood to be among the last senses to \;diminish. Oceana Sawyer\, an end-of-life doula\, cit es Florence Nightingale in Life\, Death\, Grief\, \;and the Possibilit y of Pleasure: &ldquo\;Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can \;be inflicted on the sick or the well.&rdquo\; Hospitals\, hospices\, and other spaces of death care are \;often filled with mach ines\, beeps\, alarms\, or silence. Western approaches to dying tend to&nb sp\;prioritize comfort and the absence of pain. Sawyer asks us to consider what might happen when \;we move beyond comfort and intentionally inv ite pleasure into the dying process.
\nInspired by Sawyer&rsquo\;s w ork and my own journey as a death companion\, sound artist Connor \;Es tes and I explore these questions through interviews with participants. We ask them to \;identify sounds that bring pleasure\, comfort\, presenc e\, or a sense of being held&mdash\;a loved one&rsquo\;s \;voice\, win d\, laughter\, or something deeply specific to their own life. Estes weave s these voices \;and recordings into a layered audio collage\, creatin g an intimate soundscape of the sounds \;participants would want prese nt during their final moments.
\nThe soundtrack will be experienced inside a &ldquo\;Death Nest\,&rdquo\; an immersive installation inspired b y \;nesting before birth: intentionally creating a space of care for a major transition. Constructed \;from locally foraged willow branches\ , the nest creates a sheltered environment. Inside\, a \;handmade benc h by local artist Andrew Alba invites participants to sit and listen throu gh \;headphones. Filtered light and local flowers create a quiet envir onment to listen and be held \;with whatever arises in their emotional landscape. Outside the nest\, participants may contribute \;their own desired &ldquo\;last sounds&rdquo\; to a communal notebook.
\nThis project invites us to normalize conversations about death\, reclaim autono my within death \;care\, and consider pleasure as a practice that can remain with us until our dying breath. \;Through listening\, vulnerabi lity\, and collective imagination\, we create space to witness both the&nb sp\;grief of death and the possibility of a pleasurable\, self-determined transition. \;This project is funded as a recipient of the Assemblage Art Fund through UMOCA.
\nArtist's Bio
Kat Nix is a floral designe r\, artist\, death companion\, medicine maker and the owner of Ritual in&n bsp\;Bloom\, a floral business that centers rituals and intentionality in floral design. With deep \;gratitude for the resiliency\, love and gui dance of her ancestors and plantcestors\, Kat is devoted \;to reclaimi ng and honoring ancestral medicine\, grief and end of life work\, and expl oring how \;flowers hold both medicine and magic as we move through tr ansitional spaces.
\nConnor Estes is a sound artist\, radio programm er\, and photographer living in Salt Lake City. He looks to find the hidde n in plain sight stories that make us human. Through sound \;collage\, interviewing\, and recording\, Connor hopes to inspire and transform thin king through the power and intimacy of sound.
\nhttps://slcpl.libnet.in fo/event/17241696 URL;VALUE=URI:https://slcpl.libnet.info/event/17241696 ATTACH:https://static.libnet.info/images/events/slcpl/EXHBT_Sounds_of_a_Li fe_Well_Loved_ShareSpace_Oct_2026.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR