Colette Copeland’s Texas Soundings—Let Your Voice Be Heard
—a special 2-day exhibition/event at Under Construction Gallery, San Antonio, Texas
Saturday March 23 & Sunday March 24, 2024
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, March 5, 2024–Under Construction Gallery is pleased to host a special
2-day exhibition/event featuring artist Colette Copeland’s most recent work to date—Texas
Soundings—Let Your Voice Be Heard.
Soundings is a collaborative, community-based experimental sound installation, focusing on
amplifying Texas voices that have historically been silenced, specifically female, non-binary and
queer voices. Copeland states “With the loss of women’s rights through the overturning of Roe
vs. Wade, as well as the proposed legislation that threatens LGBTQIA+ rights, it is important for
our voices to be heard.”
The artist asked each participant to think about what they wanted to say to the universe, then
choosing a phrase or series of phrases that was meaningful for them. If they spoke more than
one language, they sounded in multiple languages. Their voices were then composited into a
mini symphony in collaboration with sound engineer and composer Mark Menza. Each
sounding resembles a chant or mantra, symbolizing a reclamation of power.
Copeland directs the audience to sit and deeply listen to others innermost thoughts. Inspired by
experimental musician Pauline Oliveras who developed a series of exercises to develop deep
listening skills, Copeland challenges us to contemplate listening as an act of resistance.
There is soft persistence in your writing, where ideas emerge gradually, forming cohesive rhythm and layered meaning. The text encourages patient observation and meditative engagement.