Artist Statement

Name signs are a special and valued aspect of Deaf culture because a sign name is a special sign that is used to uniquely identify a person, just like a name. In this culture, it is a gift, something that is given to one and is not something that a Deaf individual can pick or invent for oneself. Your sign name can definitely change over time. For example, if you move away from one community and immerse yourself in another, Deaf people there could feel your original sign name is no longer applicable, and choose to give you another. Cheryle (Zimmer) Broszeit grew up in a Deaf community and has always been fascinated with how Deaf people, like herself, receive their name signs. As a Deaf child born to a Deaf family, she was given a name sign by her parents at birth but, when she was a teenager, the Deaf community decided to change her name sign to fall in line with the name signs of her other Deaf Zimmer family members. The community thought it would be ideal for her to use this name sign going forward.