This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 19, 2011 - When Carol Fleming was growing up as a deaf child in St. Louis, her world was largely silent. But she took in everything around her through sight.
"I am visually oriented; my eyes are a big, dominant part of my brain," Fleming said, with articulation that's not difficult to understand.
Her love of clay emerged early, and her work progressed as she attended the Central Institute for the Deaf and John Burroughs High School. After going to several colleges including SIUE, Fleming earned her masters in fine art at Ohio University in 1988 and came back home to open her first ceramics studio in Maplewood.
On Friday, July 22, Fleming will talk about her career of more than two decades at a social justice conference sponsored by the St. Louis chapter of the Women's Caucus for Art at the Regional Arts Commission.
"My art is my one driving passion," Fleming said. "I think being deaf made me an artist."
Technology Furthers Her Voice
Any artist debuting his or her own studio faces financial and other challenges. But for Fleming, communication was the biggest obstacle.
In the days before assisted telephone service, computers and modern medical technology for the hearing impaired, Fleming had few ways to pursue clients since she couldn't make or receive phone calls. She relied on her mother to be her voice on the phone.
Fleming persevered, and in 1986, had her first solo exhibit. In the 1990s, she exhibited at numerous prestigious venues including Elliot Smith Contemporary Gallery, the St. Louis Art Fair and The Sheldon. During that decade, TTY phone service, fax machines and the internet revolutionized her business.
"Being online and other advances have been great equalizers for a deaf artist in a working world," Fleming said.
At 39, Fleming had a cochlear implant, further enhancing her ability to hear sounds and improve her speech. With ever-evolving hearing aids, a fierce determination and the support of her hearing-ear dog, Isadora, and husband of 17 years, Larry Marks, the 51-year-old Fleming pursues a lofty goal.
"I want to sound like someone who is not deaf," Fleming said.
Bridges Make Connections
Bridges have always been a dominant theme in Fleming's work. She likes the idea that bridges bring people and communities together.
"I value being connected; I value not being isolated," Fleming said.
Early in her career, Fleming made actual bridges. But as they got bigger and bigger, she realized that bridges to the sky -- columns -- could be as large as she or her clients wanted. Today, an assortment of these upright sculptures lines the driveway of her Ladue home and Studio Terra Nova.
While Fleming makes many kinds of ceramics objects, including busts of horses, she's concentrating now on the columns (which she considers more masculine), arches, eggs and acorns (more feminine). She summed each body of work in a few phrases:
Columns: "A building block, a force of going upward."
Eggs: "A feeling of hope, new life."
Acorns: "Growth and potential."
Arches: "The intimacy of a dialogue. hugging, kissing, whispering; they have little eyes and ears."
Fleming's art is her "soul voice," according to her friend Nancy Hobson, who has known Fleming since she was in college.
"It's how she communicates the things that most people ponder in journals and in deep coffee conversations and with the loves of their lives," Hobson said. "She has some language for those kinds of things but she often feels awkward."
Inspiration And Enthusiasm
Fleming's artistic inspiration is steeped in spirituality, with the columns representing a connection with God. But according to Hobson, many clients simply appreciate Fleming's pieces for their aesthetic value, and, regarding the columns, for their historical reference to ancient Rome and Greece.
"She doesn't say, 'This is meaningful for me so you should like it'; that's not her sales pitch," Hobson said. "But she passionately conveys how these things look in various settings for her clients."
Her work graces private gardens as well as public arenas including the Clayton MetroLink station, Riverport Commons and the Magellan Health Services grounds in Earth City. When Fleming worked with Arts in Transit director David Allen during a St. Louis Art Fair exhibition, he was impressed with her professionalism, and the animated manner in which she demonstrated the creation of her art.
During the planning of the event, Fleming's enthusiasm was evidenced not only by her obvious excitement but also by her numerous 1 a.m. emails.
"I've been in this business a long time and worked with hundreds and hundreds of artists," Allen said. "I can't think of anyone who has more energy and passion for what she does."
