Mother Father Deaf

"Mother Father Deaf" - This painting by acrylic on canvas shows my De’VIA experience as a deaf parent of CODA children. Both my boys are hearing, born to deaf parents. I am raising them up making sure they know our deaf culture, community, sign language. As my exhusband is British, my boys can sign British Sign Language (BSL) and myself, I am Czech, so they know also Czech Sign Language (ČZJ). The painting expresses the parental bonding and deaf experience in the form of a bumpy reef knot, signing Mother & Father in BSL.

Ivana Hay Tetauerova

Mother Father Deaf

2015

Acrylic on canvas

The acrylic painting shows two knotted arms/hands that express a bond, whilst the hands are signing letters M and F, which in BSL mean mother and father. The hands are labelled by the handwritten words „mother“ and „father“ whereas the bumpy reef knot the arms created is labelled by the handwritten word „deaf“, showing the deaf experience behind the signing. The background is dark green, and the hands are painted yellow and a bit of red, to make the contrast and shadows where needed.