In July 2019, artist Shaun Leonardo lead an intimate walk-through of the exhibition “Mirror/Echo/Tilt” followed by a reading by poet Nicole Sealey, author of the critically acclaimed debut collection Ordinary Beast (Ecco, 2017)1. This program was part of A Possibility that Exists Alongside, a series of artist-led gallery talks and poetry readings highlighting the capacity of voice—through writing, speech, and movement—to challenge, provoke, and create new possibilities.

Mirror/Echo/Tilt (2019) was a video, performance, and pedagogical project created by artists Melanie Crean, Shaun Leonardo, and Sable Elyse Smith in collaboration with individuals affected by the justice system. Focusing on embodied gesture across fragmented and repeated vignettes, the multichannel video employed nonverbal forms of meter, pause, and syntax to counter narratives imposed by the carceral state.