LOVE

Fran Flaherty
LOVE,  2020
Native digital collage 

“This image is an homage to the Black Deaf Community of Pittsburgh. It features the word LOVE in American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is typically experienced by the mainstream through an ASL interpreter and usually viewed in a formal setting with interpreters having unadorned sterile hands. It is rare that adorned nails are an acceptable part of the dominant Deaf Culture. The nail art in this piece was created by Black Nail Artisans in Pittsburgh. It shows the complexities and depth of the oppression that Black residents have gone through. The image asks us to reflect on the question: what does it mean to be Black and Deaf in Pittsburgh?” - Fran Flaherty

Fran Flaherty is a first-generation Deaf immigrant artist living in Pittsburgh. The founder of: anthropologyofmotherhood.com, her work is centered in migrant family relations, maternal feminism, & disability aesthetics. She also specializes in building comprehensive digital fabrication labs and is an instructor at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf.