Emily Akerman is a Deaf artist living and working in Toronto. Her practice moves across painting, illustration, and creative writing, shaped by lived experiences of deafness, identity, and belonging. She translates everyday moments of silence, miscommunication, and advocacy into vivid, expressive forms. Working under the name Poofy, she embraces play as a way to hold complexity and tenderness. Rooted in the DE’VIA movement, her work honours Deaf histories while carving space for new narratives.