Bio

The opportunity to express myself as a ceramics, acrylic and oil artist, without being exposed to visual arts at an early age, allowed years of personal growth to blossom within myself. Growing up in Beverly Hills with parents, such as my father, Jackie Barnett who was Jimmy Durante’s music producer and comedian writer allowed me to experience the musical aspect of the Hollywood mainstream. Chaos was experienced, as I struggled to free my spirituality as a deaf individual in an environment with others who can hear and enjoy my father’s music.

Exposure to the philosophical concept of oralism, which Deaf people are trained to have speech did not allow for any development of my yearning for visual exposures of sign language as a form of communication. Speech therapy sessions did not leave me confident with my own speaking skills due to the abusive nature of teachers. Speaking with my own voice was no comfortable matter, until being exposed to the beauty of sign language as a visual form of art at the age of 20 years old.

On the road for searching for my own individuality as a deaf person, several crises occurred which was my physical ailment not only as a deaf person, yet with mythesnia gravis. Mythesnia gravis had a major impact on my muscles which became paralyzed and deteriorated over the years. It was an ongoing struggle from 1990-1993, while I was a bicoastal residence in both New York City and Marina Del Rey.

During episodes of my illness, rude awakenings were experienced in my life. The death of my father left me unclear of my own personal choices and growth. It also left me with false hope without goals based on my own individualism as a deaf person. The whole experience released the internal pressure experienced as a minority among the majority. Seeking the cultural values of being deaf opened my eyes and spirit, as I was able to develop a clear sense to continue with my journey of the world and relocate in different areas of culture. The travels enabled a great deal of development of obtaining a sense of empathy surrounding human nature. Recently, I had the opportunity of returning back to San Francisco after studying in Florence, Italy at the Arte Sotto Un Tetto and Studio Giambo

As I was dealing with the constant physical turmoil from mythesnia gravis, drawing became an initiative act which allowed me to express passion to understand the psychological aspects of human relationships. Searching for the mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels of relationships allowed a connection of my soul with its search for the real meaning of true love. Several love relationships were experienced sweetly and sourly as I matured to a new level of human development. It allowed the development of obtaining a keen sense of being able to differentiate the human nature of relationships based on my own personal experiences.

Currently, I am residing at the northern part of San Francisco bay and loving the idea of being educated in the aspects of life while being exposed to the beauty of the arts. By residing at several places, my own confidence based on my personal growth has dramatically increased as I have been expressing it on ceramics and paintings.

Dawn Barnett

As I wa

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