Mask of Benevolence

Mask of Benevolence
30 x 40 inches
Oil on canvas
August 2011
$2,000.00

Description:
This painting is inspired by The Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community by Harlan Lane. The book examines how seemingly compassionate attitudes and policies toward Deaf people can conceal paternalism, audism, and the denial of Deaf language and culture.

The painting depicts a class photograph of a mainstreamed Deaf student surrounded by hearing classmates. Although the hearing students appear friendly on the surface, the Deaf student senses insincerity and recognizes the subtle exclusion, discomfort, and prejudice hidden beneath their smiles. Seeing through this “mask of benevolence,” the Deaf student firmly signs STOP—a declaration that says, “Enough is enough.”

The blue tape, a recurring symbol throughout my work, represents audism, oppression, restriction, censorship, and the suppression of Deaf identity and American Sign Language. It also symbolizes being crossed out, tied down, trapped, and forced to wear metaphorical masks to conform to hearing expectations.

This painting belongs to the Resistance category of De’VIA, confronting the hidden forms of discrimination that Deaf people often experience beneath the appearance of kindness and inclusion.