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http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060305/ENTERTAINMENT05/603050313/1005/MTCN0303
It's been widely said — and famously sung by Rod Stewart — that ''every picture tells a story.''
Gina Helms of Ashland City, a deaf artist whose work is included in a national show at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, uses her unique perspective to put her own spin on that phrase. ''A portrait can explain millions of words!''
Take Silent, No Mas!, her contribution to the Second Annual National Juried De'VIA Exhibit, presented here by the League for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
Helms' oil painting shows a female face behind a palm extended toward the viewer. Words such as ''self-reliant,'' ''peace,'' ''enthusiastic'' and ''freedom'' float in the cloudy space near the hand. The overall impression is one of dynamic self-assertion, a confident appeal to be included.
''I really love this so much and sometimes it is very difficult to explain all of this in details,'' Helms said, responding in writing to a set of questions.
''To paint a picture is what compels me. Passion is probably the term for the reason why I'm into the art work. It is my hope that this will bring the unique feeling for the next generation of deaf artists to see what they are capable of.''
That combination of demonstrating what's possible while also inspiring others runs through the entire show, which brings together 20 pieces by 16 artists from New York to California. Helms and Ken McBroom from East Tennessee, who has three entries, are the only featured artists from this state.
While McBroom, who's studying art and design at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, lost his hearing at 19 while serving as a paratrooper in Vietnam, Helms was deaf in infancy.
Now 31, she is originally from Wichita, Kan., where she was one of three deaf children born to deaf parents. From age 3, Helms said, she was taught art by her mother, Jenean.
''I found something that I'm capable of doing with my hands — other than using them to communicate with my friends and families,'' said Helms, who now works as an interior designer with Bella Linea in Green Hills.
What exactly is De'VIA? The unusual acronym stands for Deaf View/Image Art, a phrase coined by a small group of deaf artists in the late 1980s to describe the expression of the deaf experience through visual art. During a gathering at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the artists produced a manifesto to underscore their understanding of De'VIA.
It states in part that De'VIA ''uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural or physical deaf experience. These experiences may include deaf metaphors, deaf perspectives, and deaf insight in relationship with the environment (both the natural world and deaf cultural environment), spiritual and everyday life.
''De'VIA can be identified by formal elements such as deaf artists' possible tendency to use contrasting colors and values, intense colors, contrasting textures. It may also most often include a centralized focus, with exaggeration or emphasis on facial features, especially eyes, mouths, ears and hands.''
The idea of launching a national show based on De'VIA principles belonged to former Nashville artist Cynthia Weitzel and her friend Karin Kalodimos. The latter is a Nashville-based freelance interpreter for the deaf who's active with the local League for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
''Cynthia wanted to do this to give deaf artists recognition and also help promote community awareness about deaf culture and deaf people,'' Kalodimos said. ''The show was open to anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing or has a close connection to the deaf community.''
Last year's inaugural installment was put on view at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. This year, the move was made to Vanderbilt's Medical Center, where Donna Glassford as director of cultural enrichment has introduced compelling art shows in the mezzanine gallery off the main lobby. Glassford said this show gives viewers ''a unique glimpse into the world of the deaf artistic community.''
It's been widely said — and famously sung by Rod Stewart — that ''every picture tells a story.''
Gina Helms of Ashland City, a deaf artist whose work is included in a national show at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, uses her unique perspective to put her own spin on that phrase. ''A portrait can explain millions of words!''
Take Silent, No Mas!, her contribution to the Second Annual National Juried De'VIA Exhibit, presented here by the League for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
Helms' oil painting shows a female face behind a palm extended toward the viewer. Words such as ''self-reliant,'' ''peace,'' ''enthusiastic'' and ''freedom'' float in the cloudy space near the hand. The overall impression is one of dynamic self-assertion, a confident appeal to be included.
''I really love this so much and sometimes it is very difficult to explain all of this in details,'' Helms said, responding in writing to a set of questions.
''To paint a picture is what compels me. Passion is probably the term for the reason why I'm into the art work. It is my hope that this will bring the unique feeling for the next generation of deaf artists to see what they are capable of.''
That combination of demonstrating what's possible while also inspiring others runs through the entire show, which brings together 20 pieces by 16 artists from New York to California. Helms and Ken McBroom from East Tennessee, who has three entries, are the only featured artists from this state.
While McBroom, who's studying art and design at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, lost his hearing at 19 while serving as a paratrooper in Vietnam, Helms was deaf in infancy.
Now 31, she is originally from Wichita, Kan., where she was one of three deaf children born to deaf parents. From age 3, Helms said, she was taught art by her mother, Jenean.
''I found something that I'm capable of doing with my hands — other than using them to communicate with my friends and families,'' said Helms, who now works as an interior designer with Bella Linea in Green Hills.
What exactly is De'VIA? The unusual acronym stands for Deaf View/Image Art, a phrase coined by a small group of deaf artists in the late 1980s to describe the expression of the deaf experience through visual art. During a gathering at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the artists produced a manifesto to underscore their understanding of De'VIA.
It states in part that De'VIA ''uses formal art elements with the intention of expressing innate cultural or physical deaf experience. These experiences may include deaf metaphors, deaf perspectives, and deaf insight in relationship with the environment (both the natural world and deaf cultural environment), spiritual and everyday life.
''De'VIA can be identified by formal elements such as deaf artists' possible tendency to use contrasting colors and values, intense colors, contrasting textures. It may also most often include a centralized focus, with exaggeration or emphasis on facial features, especially eyes, mouths, ears and hands.''
The idea of launching a national show based on De'VIA principles belonged to former Nashville artist Cynthia Weitzel and her friend Karin Kalodimos. The latter is a Nashville-based freelance interpreter for the deaf who's active with the local League for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing.
''Cynthia wanted to do this to give deaf artists recognition and also help promote community awareness about deaf culture and deaf people,'' Kalodimos said. ''The show was open to anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing or has a close connection to the deaf community.''
Last year's inaugural installment was put on view at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. This year, the move was made to Vanderbilt's Medical Center, where Donna Glassford as director of cultural enrichment has introduced compelling art shows in the mezzanine gallery off the main lobby. Glassford said this show gives viewers ''a unique glimpse into the world of the deaf artistic community.''