KEY POINTS:
Being deaf has not stopped an Auckland artist from being heard, letting her artwork do the talking for her.
Abbie Twiss is donating six of her art pieces to The Deaf Association of New Zealand, to auction off as part of Sign Language Week this week.
The 33-year-old is the co-ordinator for New Zealand's first Deaf Art Auction, with artworks donated by deaf artists from around the country being sold off, to contribute towards deaf awareness, access and advancement.
Ms Twiss, who has been deaf since she was three months old, says her artwork is a way of expressing herself.
"It speaks for itself. It's about expression. I enjoy bringing colour and incorporating my imagination.
"I want people to see my art and make them think. To guess and figure it out; interpreting it in their own way."
Sign language was once banned in New Zealand schools and students were punished for using it. It was reintroduced into the curriculum and is now one of the nation's official languages.
Ms Twiss, who attended the Kelston Deaf Education Centre in West Auckland, was one of the first deaf students to use New Zealand Sign Language at school.
She acknowledges the difficulties of being a young person and the added struggle to fit in, being deaf.
"It was hard long ago. Still now, there are not enough interpreters, which is very necessary.
"I gesture and use body language. If I talk to hearing people, I use simple indications."
Ms Twiss, who is the daughter of acclaimed sculptor Greer Twiss, graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts - an experience which was both enjoyable and hard at times, she said.
"I was isolated in my artwork. I spent hours on it in university.
"Other hearing students were busy themselves and I spent [my time] mostly with tutors, writing down [to communicate]."
Ms Twiss, who works from her art studio in Balmoral, is now sharing her passion with others by holding art workshops for interested deaf artists.
"People are really interested in learning from a deaf artist. Deaf people haven't learned how to whole draw yet and I want to see them learn to achieve it by hoping to have life drawing workshops, to earn confidence and motivation to do well for their needs."
Ms Twiss says she wants to teach people about Deaf Art, which is different to ordinary art, in that it shows the symbolic use of hands and signs - which are vital for a deaf person to communicate.
"Deaf Art is an expression of the art world. It has a lot to do with hands and signs, which is how we communicate."
