As we come together for family, friends, and some football, the HLAA California State Association is proud to highlight an extraordinary Californian artist, Priscila Soares, who has created many beautiful mixed media art inspired by her hearing loss journey. Priscila’s latest endeavor—a new set of illustrations in her “Hearing Differences Collection” focused on sports and activities—couldn’t come at a better time!
After portraying a collection of 13 different famous children’s books stories such as “Alice in Wonderland”, ‘Winnie the Pooh” and “The Little Mermaid” with hearing devices and sign language, Priscila’s new set of illustrations for the “Hearing Differences Collection” will depict children in sports and other activities.
After being asked by a deaf track runner with cochlear implants to have more representation of children in sports, Priscila felt inspired to take on the challenge and began an illustration of a boy dressed up with a football uniform, signing “I love you” in sign language. As with many of her past illustrations, you can find 4 versions of this work: with a hearing aid, a cochlear implant, a bone anchored hearing aid and without a device. She won’t stop there with many more activities to portray on her to do list. These illustrations are a vivid reminder that everyone, regardless of their hearing ability, has the potential to achieve greatness in their chosen field.
Confronted with her own hearing loss that started at the age of 17 and her youngest son’s diagnosed deafness at birth, she embarked on a deeply personal quest to understand and express the multifaceted D/deaf and hard of hearing world through her art.
Priscila’s work celebrates the idea that our challenges do not define us; rather, they empower us. By adorning the ears of her portraits with wings in some of her work, Priscila symbolically liberates the ‘invisible disability’ of hearing loss, declaring, “This is a part of who I am, but I’m not defined by it.”
Priscila’s art and advocacy work remind us that the journey through hearing loss is rich with stories of resilience, hope, and empowerment. Through MyLuckyEars, she invites us all to honor our uniqueness and connect with others through our shared human experience.
This Super Bowl weekend, let’s celebrate not only the athletes on the field but also the artists and advocates like Priscila Soares, who inspire us to see beyond our limitations and embrace the fullness of our potential.
Want to stay up to date with Priscila? You can find her work, personal story and sign up to receive notifications of future art releases at: myluckyears.com
Follow her on Instagram: @myluckyears
Connect with her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PriscilaMyLuckyears
