2020
The 11 by 14 inch artwork, “2020”, is from a “24-day advent calendar” that I purchased for $4.43, and carefully peeled off the outside and inside bases and primed them. I added four more doors and carefully cut the doors and left them closed. Each door is from one to two inch size. I painted tiny pictures, using Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI watercolour, a water brush pen and a MANGAKA 01 ink pen. The artwork was from the annual De’VIA February Challenge that has been going on since 2014, and each day an artist would share an artwork on De’VIA Central Facebook. The theme was about a deaf life experience during the pandemic, using a chart with a list of events, names, places and so on, that an artist can choose from. An example would be this- Day 21, I chose Dinner Table Syndrome. This is the first artwork on “dinner table syndrome” I have painted about, and the image is very small and hard to illustrate and paint on the inside base. The image showed, my family apologizing to me, in 2020, after I asked questions about our Native American ancestors. I remember vividly how frustrated I was at the table, asking my family to tell me what was about, and they told me to, "wait, I will tell you later, not now" and so on. In the picture, shows a person sitting at the left corner with question marks above the head which happened to be me when I was ten years old, not understanding what my family were talking about. In the image, there is a group of our ancestors in their sacred regalias and headdresses behind. That was my vision of what they were discussing about and I looked back and learned just how much have I lost all of the stories they were talking about our ancestors. I completed all 28 images and applied rubber cement on both the outside and inside bases. Then I carefully attached them together. After that, I forgot what the images were, inside the doors until I opened its first door on February 1st. I have a blog https://febchallenge.wordpress.com that tells a story behind each door. My name is Nancy Rourke, and I am a Deaf artist, using De’VIA movement since 2009. I am from San Diego, California, and am an enrolled member of Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians in the Kumeyaay Nation. I reside in Loveland, Colorado.
Nancy Rourke
2021
An Imagination of Fish
Against a navy blue background, there is a pink patterns fish with a pink text below. The shape of fish is an ASL hand shape. The text reads, "Fish."
Yiqiao Wang
2021
Arm
Against a white with light black grids background, there is a white arm and hand with different mechanical shapes.
Paul Johnston
2018
ASL Rises: Spherical
The square has white hands and arms that represent a flower. The behind the arms is yellow and green. The above the arms are blue and red lines with dark red dots. Each corner has a small square with a white flower and red, blue and yellow in the background. The center of the square is completely black.
Ellen Mansfield
2018
BAA! The Lies You Tell
Two foot tall sculpture of a wolf wearing a suit and a sheep mask. It is holding hearing aid with a price tag attached to it.
Cicely Boga
2016
Black Deaf Lives Matter Protesters
The illustration shows a group of Black protestors including deaf, hearing, deafblind, and disabled individuals standing together outside.
Shawn Richardson
2020
CI You Will Be Assimilated
There are 5 doctors in blue and white jackets staring at you in a room. The ground is full of cashes. A girl and boy in a blue gown are standing in the front of doctors and have a silver cochlear implant attached to the head. One of the doctors is holding a baby with a silver cochlear implant attached to its head covering with a purple blanket.
Brad Thornberry
2016
Come Play Chess With Me
A portrait of AGB sitting behind a table with chessboard. His black chess pieces that have a King with a big ear atop its crown. And a Queen with a big mouth atop its crown. He said, Come Play Chess With Me. Any opposite player especially the leaders of Deaf community will have white chess pieces that have a King with a big Hand atop its crown. And a Queen with a big Eye on its crown.
Paul M Scearce
2018
De-Culturation
Two hands shackled and chained to piles of pencils and papers.
Cicely Boga
2016
Deaf Art 101
There are 8 books stacking together on a brown desk. The wall is light pink with light black line patterns.
Dr. Tony Landon McGregor
2013