Deaf Art Collections: Jimenez, Claudia (Mexican American)

From Dyer Arts Facebook: 

Claudia Jimenez is a Deaf Latina woman raised in San Ysidro, at the very edge of San Diego, near the border with Mexico. Her family emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and her Spanish and Mexican heritage are very much a part of her life.

Claudia remembers often visiting her grandparents in Tijuana, where she observed religious images of the Virgin of Guadalupe and Jesus on the walls of their home. These spiritual icons as well as the colorful cultural pieces sold in transit by Mexican people walking through the lines of cars waiting to cross the border into the U.S. inspired Claudia to create art of her own.⁠⠀

Without art in her life, Claudia felt an emptiness in her soul. Claudia and her older sister, who is also Deaf, signed fluently together. Within their family, however, communication is arduously forged through gestures, home signs, and body language. When Claudia discovered her passion for creating art and visual poetry, she experienced a beautiful, silent world without rules, barriers, or limits. Color is an important spiritual component to Claudia’s vision as a Deaf artist and a way of translating her emotions into her environment.⁠⠀

Title	Medium	Year	Size	Acquired	Picture
No More Speech	Oil on canvas The painting depicts a nude, dark-haired woman at the center with outstretched arms and a dove emerging from her left hand. The upper half of the the background represents a star-filled sky over a white cloud at the center. Images from left to right at the lower portion of the painting depicts six men in suits, a baby bound by coiled wires at the wrists and neck, a man facing a megaphone apparatus that connects to the baby, and other nude women connected by coiled wires attached at the neck and wrist. On the right, flowers are held by cupped hands, and there is a tree with revealed roots.	2016	61 x 92 cm	Purchased by Joan Naturale NTID Librarian