All six works in the exhibition are linked together thematically, each displaying an event in which sound plays a role. As the title for the exhibition indicates, the issue is not hearing sound but seeing it. What all six works have in common is a thunderous silence. As a result, a sense of absence prevails, and thus a sense of loss. There is a feeling that something is missing, that something is wrong.¹

Lemieux employs a rich variety of methods and styles to explore the meanings and functions if images and language, often using unexpected juxtapositions to generate powerful responses to the familiar material. “The Appearance of Sound” included six works with sound as the primary theme. Each of the works is composed of a large photographically derived image on canvas mixed with collage. Images include ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy Charlie McCarthy, deaf children ‘listening’ to the vibrations of a piano, and the pounding boots of marching soldiers. The works are given broader resonance by the addition of striking collaged elements: a wooden door painted with enigmatic phrases describing animal groupings is placed against the image of the marching boots, a diagram of the inner ear is painted directly onto the image of the piano and the children. These ambiguous works, imbued with a range of thematic references, resist simple interpretation.²