Unstoried Self, Solo Exhibition, Vernon Public Art Gallery, 2023
Unstoried Self focuses on the liminal space between Deaf and hearing. The modern world is structured in a way — under a medical model — that does not support what it means to be wonderfully, culturally Deaf. Historically, Deaf people have been marginalized and segregated. In the early 1800’s, Oralist educators decided to ban sign language in schools. The spectrum of deafness from hearing, to hard of hearing, to profound deafness has seen devastating impacts of this decision. Deaf scholar, J. Bauman asks an important question that I reference in my art practice: “how has the absence of sign shaped our ideas, categories, thinking, experience, and being?” To be able to construct a positive identity within a society that does not value signed languages, one must explore their personal history, geographic culture, and ideologies.
I am questioning the meaning of culture and language, for it seems to have been lost in translation. The work comes from a desire to understand the contrast of the isolation and beauty in deafness — to convey the disconnect, intuitive gestures span across the large surface to take up space, both literally and metaphorically. Paper and mylar are layered with delicate and dark marks, built up to create a cohesive image. Through this, the paintings become a collection of feelings of longing.
Along with large gestural painting, I have found that photography, video and mirror installation have a place in my practice as together they weave a story about the disconnect between spoken and signed languages. I am interested in the idea that sign language exists outside of the presence of sound and that signs and gestures cannot be recorded in text print. Having grown up using spoken language and not having access to sign language, I found our current cultural systems don’t have room for innovation of what language can mean. By separating the signed words from facial expression, I am removing the context of the word within sign language. The body is essential. The meaning has been lost and it is up to the viewer to find it. The work aims to reflect the complexity of being in this ‘othered’ cultural space.
Deafness is a culture without a country. In recent years, there has been a shift in Deaf Culture empowering people to take ownership over being in between spaces. Deafness is a culture without a country. This liminality is now recognized across the world. I inhabit in this space, and even I have become aware of my conditioning to view Deafness through the eyes of hearing people. This exhibition is my response to a yearning to shift that gaze. It is difficult to live as a deaf person within a medical-based society with so many barriers; therefore there has been a change in deciding to be deaf — in my own way — as I move between hearing and Deaf communities. Unstoried Self is created to transcend the belief of segregation until there is no longer a feeling of division.