Klemzig Centre of Deaf Education TOGETHER… WE CAN DO SO MUCH (SA)

Tell us how your artwork addresses this year’s theme ‘I Can’:
Each week we have ‘Deaf Time’ where the deaf and hard of hearing students from all year levels come together as a group. We used this time to complete this artwork. We looked at examples of different deaf adults within our community and their hobbies and jobs. We saw chefs, doctors, artists, sports people and more. Then we brainstormed as a group, all the different skills, hobbies and things we can do. We could do a lot! Then students did an illustration of things they can do on patches to add to the artwork.

Tell us about the ideas or themes your artwork explores with the theme ‘I Can’:
Each square patch is something the child chose to illustrate because they are proud that they can do it. Putting all the patches together shows that we are a community, stronger together because we can do so many things. Diversity strengthens our community. We had one of our Deaf School Support Officers tell us the story of how she, her family and other members of the deaf community worked together to create a fingerspelling tapestry to be hung at the South Australian Deaf Society (262). It is now displayed at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Now more than 40 years later, we wanted to emulate their project in our own way.

What type of art have you submitted and why?
We completed individual crayon drawings with a water-colour paint wash over the top. Each piece of art was then scanned to create the look of a patchwork quilt. We chose this method because it was accessible to all learners in our group. The final product resembles a quilt as an homage to the quilts and tapestries made by the South Australian Deaf community in the past, some examples of which are hanging in the Art Gallery of South Australia today.