Project description:
American Sign Language was the second language I acquired from spending time with my aunt and learning from great Deaf professors in LaGuardia Community College. The installation is a representation of the trial and error of learning ASL grammar and the alphabet. The audience will be practicing ASL with themselves and learning words and phases while making visual art. While making phases they will be also stepping back in time when a great linguist William Stokoe recorded Deaf students to evaluate the sentence structure that he defined as TOSV (TIME, OBJECT, SUBJECT, VERB. Audiences will be given signs that they are required to follow making them the pen and the video screen paper. The title is glossed into ASL grammar from the title of the Why I Sign organization that post stories on instagram on why people have learned sign language giving insight on the diverse community.
Bio:
Kassandra Luyando is a multi-medium artist born in New York City. A graduate from Bronx H.S of The Visual Arts and continued her education at Laguardia Community College. Instead of studying art she decided to explore Deaf studies, which is where she learned America Sign Language and Deaf Sociology. In the years of searching for a different direction separate from artistry she found her way back to art even when pursuing a career in Interpreting. She related to two artists Christine Sun Kim and Chuck Baird, both Deaf artists, that shared the same method of practice. Chuck showed that by singing you are creating more than language. That the Deaf and Hard of hearing were able to create story and visual presentation of their world. Christian showed that sound is not a singular experience and that the Deaf are capable of experiencing it in a different way. The project highlights these understanding of the language and is an am Creating based on personal and learned experiences to generate work. Also adding inclusive elements to broaden their audiences. Most of her illustrations were on Bronx graffiti and music culture. She is an artist that is not afraid of color and highlights her experiences in a multicultural city. While her story and knowledge fuels her practices. Soon to be a graduate of Hunter College she will be entering graduate school for Museum studies to learn more about digital curating. While trying to develop more tools for accessibility for all members of the public to enjoy art spaces.