Ellen Mansfield

Artist: Ellen Mansfield

Biography:

Ellen Mansfield was born Deaf in Manhattan, New York but grew up in New Jersey for 7 years. She went to public school where she was ineffectively taught without sign language and interpreters. She spent all summers in Goldens Bridge countryside, north of New York City.  She earned a BFA in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Mansfield has led a life filled with art experiences with a background in drawing, painting, batik, ceramics, and many other media that have brought her to her current journey.  When she moved to Maryland, she began to recognize just how much her Deaf identity had been part of her artwork. Life was starting to blossom as she was surrounded by Deaf culture and sign language, which influenced her to  develop increasingly colorful images including watercolors , oil paintings  and tile paintings in my artwork.

She has been commissioned for handpainted tiles for mural decorations, kitchen backsplashes, fireplace mantel surroundings, and murals behind ranges for the past 20 years. Mansfield has led many workshops in ceramics, drawing and painting for over 200 Deaf children, children of Deaf parents, and adults. 

She keeps a home studio called Ellen’s TileStroke Studio in Frederick.  The studio has a kiln for firing both low and high fire tiles from greenware to final glazing in the range of 1922 and 2174 degrees. She works in a variety of aesthetic and technical styles including sculpted relief, carved plaster blocks, tile presses and mosaic tiles. All the tiles are finished in a wide palate of earthenware and stoneware glazes. 

Mansfield was a witness to the historical signing of the Deaf View Image Art (De’VIA) charter at the Deaf Way Festival, and she strongly believes in showing Deaf experiences through her artwork. The mirror is the ideal tool for reflections upon Deafhood and De’VIA. It is for this reason that mirrors are used in many of her ceramic tile projects; they hold great significance for her.

Her goal is that tiles tell a story of Deaf Culture and sign language. Mansfield’s  work reflects a passion of experiences of Deafhood that have inspired and created her.

Abstracts:

Self Portrait of a Lonely Lady

 1980

 Oil 

I felt despair about my new environment with Junior High School and High School public schools.  I had no one to talk with, share my deaf culture with, and to feel alive. Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s works of Blue Period, the color is cold and deep to express human solitude, misery, social ostraciscm, and suffering.

Self Portrait of Black Hat and Long Neck

1981

 Oil

 The hat represents mime.  After my first year as art student at SVA, I taught mime activities in the camp and painted this portrait of myself. My experience  in public schools is that I was not able to communicate. “With no ASL, a Deaf mind is a terrible thing to waste”

I learned mime in high school because my parents and I  both wanted me lead an active social life. However, it didn’t create successful friendships. 

Self Portrait of Communication Barrier, “No ASL, Not Complete”

1982

 Oil

This is done is the cubist style, like Pablo Picasso’s work. It represents my memories of misery and suffering from attending public schools.

A  2^nd year art student,  I painted these buildings and a figure of  all angles and full distortion. The face shows no eyes and mouth as I lost my Deaf identity.  The baric wire represents the separation her from Deaf Culture.

The brown stripe across my body symbolizes that I am willing to leave behind half of my body and get out of this trapped life. My arms are upward to reach out for ASL.

I L Y Conch Shell” Painting

 1987

Oil

 The conch shell is a symbol of the hearing world. As a child, I was taught the concept “If you put the shell to your ear, you will hear the ocean!’’ That connects the lonely shell and the person listening on the land with the ocean. That promise was broken for a little deaf girl: that she might hear the ocean speak to her, too… This is disappointment.

But this painting creates another discovery. I have enjoyed the beach since I was as child. Now, when I look down at the tops of some shells, they are talking to me! I see feet, and hands, I see the human body-the same wonderful body we use to create ASL!

In this conch shell, I see a vision of Deaf Culture, My Deaf people, and feel united, and not alone. It is more than okay that I am Deaf, and I am a woman, and I am fine being me! Nature speaks to me all the time, in ASL and in a universal language of LOVE.

I painted this canvas in a traditional way, worked from photographs of Chapman’s hands, a conch shell as a still life, and some pictures of ocean.

      We “Stand for ASL”

     1986

Oil Pastel     

I moved to Maryland from New York City in 1985, and poured all of my feelings into this oil pastel drawing. After my companion, Chapman bought  us a townhouse I created this to express my love for ASL and Chapman.

Stand strong, Stand proud, and Stand together. We will make it through.

Make it through- just stay strong.

Self-portrait in Audism 

2012

Markers                                       

     Fish eye: I feel so silent as if I am underwater. The fishes on humans are derived from Russian Deaf Culture art. I have black stars on my USA skirt because sometimes I got a reward star. I feel conflicted because it is a bribe to not use ASL. My wind pipe must block my air way to make sounds. I get pains inside.

     Teacher's ear and eye’s: question mark. Does teacher understand me when I speak in oral education classroom?
The teacher's arms and skirt is a symbol of abuse of Deaf students with rulers to prevent us deaf students from using ASL. The finger spelling underneath is honored my classmates’ first letter of names.