Show me where it hurts –an exhibition by Hannah Doucet

Opening reception for a new exhibition by Hannah Doucet at Galerie Buhler Gallery

“The show is focused on the relationship between puppetry and spaces of pediatric illness. The installation brings together finger puppets, a larger-than-life children’s fold out puppet theater and a book of poetic scores for puppets plays, amongst other things…” -–Hannah Doucet

In this vibrant installation of fabric flowers, fruits, and insect puppets, as well as a grand plush theatre, Hannah Doucet has taken the still life painting tradition as a starting point for thinking about self-awareness and agency in relation to illness and healthcare. Her creations have a bright simplicity and are funny and clever, their scale sometimes shrinking the viewer’s perspective to that of a kid’s, which is part of the point. Use of puppets in paediatric healthcare can help reduce anxiety and so make it easier for small patients to interact with their clinicians, a relationship Doucet is particularly interested in. With care and questioning, she highlights the inherent anarchy of illness and the dynamics that form around it.