ASL Thrives
30 x 40 inches
Oil on canvas
September 2011
SOLD
Description:
ASL Thrives celebrates the power of American Sign Language and its essential role in the intellectual, cultural, and personal development of Deaf people. The painting features two statements: “With no ASL, a Deaf mind is a terrible thing to waste” and “With ASL, a Deaf mind THRIVES.”
Blue painter’s tape, a recurring motif in my work symbolizing the suppression of Deaf culture and language, crosses out the words “no” and “is a terrible thing to waste.” This act transforms a message of deprivation into one of empowerment, reflecting a shift from resistance to liberation.
The statement “With ASL, a Deaf mind THRIVES” affirms that access to sign language allows Deaf people to fully develop their minds through visual thinking, language, and lived experience. It celebrates the unique ways Deaf people perceive, process, and understand the world through a visual language. As a work in the Liberation category of De’VIA, this painting expresses the freedom, strength, and flourishing that come from embracing American Sign Language and Deaf identity.
