Artist. Storyteller. Self-Discovery.

 Born and raised in Stafford, Virginia, I was exposed to art at a young age. Being an hour from the nation’s capital allowed access to the art museums. Going there on summer days, because my father was excited an interesting installation. As I entered high school, I contemplated taking art seriously for the first time in my life. Teachers encouraged and shaped my passion for art, yet I lacked a motivation. I grasped onto small topics that I would lose interest in. I would not find that drive until in Photography class. 

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 I was born hearing, but as I grew, I began having difficulty hearing and ear tube surgeries were needed. Put into speech therapy at school where I was taught to pronounce words better. I was given limited access to information; I was confused why this was so important. It became a backburner as I accepted it as a normal for myself. My left ear worsened to the point I couldn’t hear out of it and I was worried about the concept of a hearing aid. Those were for old people, not for young people.

Since then, I have been inspired to combine my experiences and ASL with my art major. I’m still learning about the culture and community within it and it’s rewarding. I get to put experiences into artwork, reference history many hearing people may not know. I grew up learning I was hearing impaired, but I saw it as a negative term and the Deaf community views it as such, too. Hard-of-hearing is someone within both worlds; I’m not immersed entirely in the Deaf community yet, but I’m still learning.

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 For my senior project, my intentions are to flip the script of access given. Many people find it troubling that there are captions on the screen, when other people may need it. This varies, but for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people this is upsetting. Hearing people will be left in the dark in means of access and left up to the imagination as to what is being signed. I want a reaction from people; good or bad. If they get frustrated and angry, it would be a success. Making simple strides to the need of access for all is mandatory, not a scheduled time.

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 The medium I will be utilizing is digital media, using a drawing tablet and Medibang Paint Pro, an art application on the computer. An animatic that is like a storyboard and just before adding more frames of an animation. Extra frames are drawn for the sake of signs have more movement than others. Some methods work with others and the page by page (or layer by layer) or flip book method, works for me and I’ve seen the most success. Overall, the backgrounds take the longest time, because I’m more excited to work with the characters I make and have them come to life. I need to be able to find that balance of putting equal amount of effort into both sides. The project was a process of self-discovery and what I am capable of doing not only as an artist, but a story-teller.