Liza Sylvestre
b. 1983, Minneapolis, MN; lives and works in Urbana, IL
Christopher Robert Jones
b. 1991, San Diego, CA; lives and works in Urbana, IL
Movement Centric Language, 2025
Paint and ink
Courtesy of the artists
What does it mean to communicate? Growing up, Liza Sylvestre learned American Sign Language (ASL) through grammar books with pictures. Yet, she did not utilize ASL as a primary language because of her cochlear implant (a device that provides a person with a sense of sound), which largely distanced her from the Deaf community. Movement Centric Language is a language developed by Sylvestre that explores the edges of disability within her family structure. “It’s not necessarily about if we use the language or not,” she writes, “but about unravelling language rules and restrictions… Am I still disabled if my family (who is all hearing) adapts a communication method that does not exclude me? Are my partner and children also disabled? Where does my disability begin and end and where is it located?” Movement Centric Language challenges language rules to inhabit the space between the Deaf and hearing communities—a space that has continually shaped Sylvestre’s experience.
Artist Description
A minimalist drawing in silver line on a solid dark grey background. Human figures are evenly spaced in a horizontal row, each shown from the waist up performing expressive, abstract gestures with their hands and arms. Some gestures include duplicated or overlapping hands, suggesting movement or multiplicity of sensation. The poses are dynamic and emotive, conveying strain, confusion, effort, or entanglement. While the figures have calm facial expressions, their hands tangle, flutter, or stretch, indicating an inner struggle or complex emotional communication. The contrast between neutral facial expressions and the intensity of the hands creates a feeling of dissonance between inner experience and external appearance, reflecting the artist’s exploration of perception and miscommunication.
-- Description by Jeff Kasper
Basic Description
A series of eight wall drawings depicting human figures using various gestures. Three drawings appear on one wall, and five on another. The arrangement resembles a visual vocabulary or emotional lexicon, combining American Sign Language and symbolic expression.