Dissertations and Theses
Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Thesis
Department
Art History
First Advisor
Jayne Cole Southard
Second Advisor
Anna Indych-López
Third Advisor
Craig Houser
Keywords
Martin Wong, fingerspelling, Loisaida, graffiti, calligraphy, art history
Abstract
This thesis examines Martin Wong's (1946-1999) hand-painted fingerspelling as an invented personal visual language and vehicle of self-portraiture, analyzing three paintings created during his time in New York between 1982 and 1985: Attorney Street: Handball Court with Autobiographical Poem by Piñero (1982-1984), Compulsion (1984-1985), and Stanton Near Forsyth Street (1983). Through iconographic analysis of lingual elements in each work, including fingerspelling, graffiti, calligraphy, and poetry, this thesis argues that Wong's stylized adaptation of the American Sign Language manual alphabet reflects an evolving sense of self-identity, drawing on influences from Chinese artistic traditions, calligraphy, Kufic script, and the Nuyorican poetry and graffiti of Loisaida, the Lower East Side neighborhood where Wong lived and worked in the 1980s. Existing scholarship has discussed Wong's use of multiple languages and his proximity to Loisaida's communities, but has not examined the individual stylization of his fingerspelling characters alongside other lingual components, nor analyzed these three works in relation to one another. By doing so, this thesis offers a new framework for understanding how Wong's canvases function as spaces of personal world-building, with fingerspelling as a painted, private language that is simultaneously a record of his influences and an expression of selfhood.
Recommended Citation
Clemente, Bella, "Painted by Hand, Written in the Sky: Martin Wong’s Fingerspelling as Invented Visual Language, 1982-1985" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/1336
