Deaf Culture: Art

Hello everyone

I was looking at some art done by deaf artist and decided to share it with you.

Art is a visual representation of feelings, information and stories. there are many deaf artist worldwide but before the advent of the internet show casing their work was difficult, now it is easy for deaf artist to show case and sell their work online. 

 Deaf art falls under two main categories, one of which is called Disenfranchised Art, this type of art is created by people who are deprived of rights and privilege. they use art to highlight their history and experiences. they use art as a for of celebration and affirmation and also to explore issues of oppression and struggles. The other category is called De'Via, this type of art explores the artist perception of their deaf experiences by using formal elements of art, intense colors and contrasting Textures.

 

There are deaf artist who practice art in any form that cover a variety of subjects and are compared to other hearing artist but they are not considered to be Disenfranchised or De'Via artist. A hearing person can be a Disenfranchised or De'Via artist as long of their work is intended to show their deaf experience.

This last painting was done by Susan Dupor and is called Family Dog and it really struck a cord with me it is meant to reflect how a deaf child feels growing up in a hearing family. I hope that all of you can appreciate the very real struggle that some people face.