Connie Michele Morey’s studio practice explores the experience of home as ecological interdependence. Through performance with textiles and sculpture, documented through photography and video, her work questions the effects of colonial industry and labour practices on inter-species displacement. Connie’s practice is influenced by childhood experiences living rurally off the land, while being surrounded by family traditions of masonry, construction, and textiles. Her family history mingles settler and Indigenous identities (Scottish, Scandinavian, and Anishinaabe), and her studies in sculpture, textiles, and philosophy (with an emphasis on ecology and decolonial studies) have impacted her interest in the politics of displacement. 

The Artwork

The Body Listens invites artists and members of the public to participate in a community art project ​that focuses on listening and mending as acts of ecological solidarity and collective healing. 

Listening is a form of attentiveness. When we actively listen, we are open and present. This impacts our physiology in positive ways. It also opens us up to receive information from the world, and increases our receptivity and connection with those we listen to and with. This is not only true of listening to humans but also when we listen to nature. When we feel connected to the communities and ecosystems we are a part of, we have a greater capacity to engage with empathy and compassion. 

The Workshop

​Sixty community members participated in the community project by individually stitching hand-dyed listening bands in response to their unique experiences of listening to the sounds of nature. The listening bands became part of an outdoor textile installation that took place in Miqən (Beacon Hill Park) on unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən  Territories (Victoria, BC) on July 12, 2025. The community installation began at 11am with opening remarks and a performance Ear to the Ground by the artist Connie, and remained open to the public until 4pm.

The following day (July 13th), J B Williams, an ethnobotanist of Tsawout and Ahousat descent, gave a nature walk and talk to share traditional knowledge of native plants through storytelling.

The Reach & Resulting Resources

Over 75 people attended the workshop and performance, with over 60 participants creating listening bands. Dozens more visited the exhibition while it was open in Miqən (Beacon Hill Park). 

Connie Morey has created a beautiful and easy to use listening workshop template for those who would like to replicate this project in their community. 

Download the The Body Listens Toolkit. 

Microsoft Word version: Community Tool Kit – The Body Listens – Morey

PDF version: Community Tool Kit – The Body Listens – Morey