Debra Disman

Artist

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Debra Disman

Swept Away: “The Center Will Not Hold” I

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My work, “The Center Will Not Hold” was  PERFORMED ON SITE AT THE ANNENBERG COMMUNITY BEACH HOUSE as part of:  Swept Way: Love Letters to a Surrogate, organized by
Warren Neidich, Christina Mossaides Strassfield, Anuradha Vikram and Rene Petropoulos  2022-23
“Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate/s” is a community oriented artistic project that aims to create a transcontinental heartbeat across America. It is hoped that through its combined gestures and performances, a sense of solidarity, so desperately missing today, will emerge with which to confront the ecological catastrophe at our doorstep.”

65 Los Angeles County artists presented live performances over Earth Day Weekend: April 22 and 23, 2023 at the Santa Monica State Beach near the Annenberg Community Beach House on the Pacific Ocean. “The Center Will Not Hold” was one of them.

Stills from “The Center Will Not Hold”: gathering the water, stitching the sand.
Collaborators: Deborah Lynn Irmas and Frida Cano.


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023    Three Women Gather Water Working Silently Together


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023   Carrying Water to the Blanket of the Four Directions


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023   Making Their Way to the Blanket of the Fuur Directions Site


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023   Water is Used to Dampen The Sand To Create Mounds


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023   Needles Threaded With Hemp Cord Are Used To Stitch 


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023      Through the Sand  Mounds Creating Lines of Connection


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023     Hemp Cords Are Threaded Across the Open Circle


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023     The Center Is Stitched as is the Sand Around the Blanket


Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023     The Work of Mending is Completed for the Moment

Image Credit: Mick Lorusso April 2023     The Work is Never Done on This Earth and in This Life

More to come.

“A Common Thread” Artist Talk at ArtShare LA

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I was thrilled to participate in the
A COMMON THREAD EXHIBITION ARTIST TALK
May 19 @ 6:00 pm at ArtShare LA!

I share my talk HERE.
Thank you ArtShare LA, for this opportunity.

About the exhibition:

Art Share L.A. proudly presents A Common Thread, an exhibition featuring fiber-based and textile works of art exploring autobiography and social critique, connection and displacement. The artworks in this exhibition are interlinked through themes of history and memory.
Featured artists include: Antoinette Adams, Amabelle Aguiluz, Doris Bittar, A. Laura Brody, Chloe Cusimano, Yasmine Nasser Diaz, Debra Disman, Carmen Mardonez, Carolyn Mason, Michelle Montjoy, Marie-Jose Njoku-Obi, Katie Shanks, Aneesa Shami Zizzo

 

Flower-fold Bookmaking Honors Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month at the West Valley Regional Branch Library!

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I was thrilled to lead a bookmaking workshop, (called a “program” in Library parlance!) on May 11, 2023,  celebrating the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (of May) with a “Flower-Fold” Bookmaking program using origami paper and folding techniques.

Participants of a range of ages learned to make the flower fold structure, then linked together several “flowers” into chains, added covers and ribbons. Some participants went on to develop their books with assorted materials including decorative papers, stickers and magazines.

The results were beautiful, and filled participants with pride as they navigated the trickier aspects of the process.

 

This offering was part of my Artist Residency in Bookmaking, “We Write the Book” at the West Valley Regional Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library, through the Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Residency is comprised of a series of bookmaking workshops presented at the Library, planned in close coordination with Library Staff.

Sharing Current Shows: An Index of Participation

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I am honored to be participating in a number of shows happening this Spring and Summer, and happy to be in the company of many artists I admire, especially other women-identifying artists!

2023 has been a wonderful year for exhibitions thus far with inclusion in fascinating and, I feel, important, large and small group shows, as well as my solo show in January-March 2023, “I CAN’T I WON’T I WILL I DO” at ReflectSpace Gallery!

Two shows are yearlong, online exhibitions:
 “(Re)imagining Home: On Care for Our Common Home”
18th Street Arts Center Airport Gallery, 3026 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica, CA

and
“Objects of Agency”
Hera Gallery and Educational Foundation, 10 High Street, Wakefield, RI

Two are small to mid-sized exhibitions at local institutions comprised entirely of women-identifying artists:
“Aries Rising”
The Irvine Fine Ars Center, 14321 Yale Ave, Irvine, CA

and
“A Common Thread”
ArtShare LA, 801 E 4th Pl, Los Angeles, CA

One is/was an experimental performance:
“Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate(s)”
Annenberg Beach House 415 Pacific Coast Hwy, Santa Monica, CA

Several are outside of California:
FANTASTIC FIBERS 2023
The Yeiser Art Center,  200 Broadway, Paducah, KT

and
“In Tandem” (collaboration with artist Luciana Abait)
Cape Cod Museum of Art , 60 Hope Lane, Dennis, MA

and
“Oh, Mother”
Hera Gallery and Educational Foundation 10 High Street, Wakefield, RI

and
SAFEKEEPING: SDA’s 2023 Member Exhibition
!08 Contemporary Gallery 108 E Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK

One is an annual Los Angeles tradition!
Brand 51 Annual National Exhibition of Works on Paper!
Brand Library and Art Center,  1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale, CA

It is a busy time, and I hope to grow from all of these experiences!

Walking Through “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do”

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Photographer Gene Ogami documented my 2023 solo show, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” at ReflectSpace Gallery in the Glendale Central Library.
The ten images below provide a virtual walk-through of the exhibition, which was, as I shared with the curators, Ara and Anahid Oshagan, a dream come true that I did not even know I had.

Gratitude to them, to Gene, and to so many others who supported this realization.


Walking into the meditative gallery space from the main library.


Catching some of the larger pieces through the vitrine reflections.


Capturing exhibition signage, the “Concurrencies” artists’ book, the two Concurrencies hangings, and “Throes of the Body” in the vitrine.


A favorite corner of the Curators, Installers and myself!


“Three Sisters and Their Mother” on the wall, hanging over the titular work, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” on shelf.


“Finally, and Just For A Minute” suspended. Black on black on black is challenging to photograph.


A shot that manages to include over half the pieces in the show.


Gene was able to present me surrounded and supported by my works.


We were able to employ the hallway to present other works, and enlargements of the images featured in my artists’ book, “Concurrencies”, comparing the lives and works of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse.


The Journey Continues.
In gratitude and appreciation.

Hemp as Material and Muse

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I was thrilled to be contacted by Nadine Avillar,  the art director at Hemptique,  a hemp and natural fiber craft supply company based in San Diego.  Hemptique manufactures a large variety of hemp cords, ropes, twine, paper, fabrics, as well as bamboo and cotton products. They are the  creator of organic apparel, accessories, with a focus on hemp products and supplies.

I use a great deal of hemp cord in my works, often listing it as a primary material.

Nadine contacted me in regards to my piece , “Before the Fall“.  Hemptique was going to be an exhibitor at NAMTA, (Art and Creative Craft Materials, an organization for the creative industry) 2023 and she wanted to use a photo of my work on one of their promotional banners. NAMTA is the publisher of ART MATERIALS magazine and hold a trade show every year.

She said Hemptique has many contributors that work with their products who are more or less “crafters.” She wanted to show how I have used hemp cord in my mixed-media works. Eventually, the owners of Hemptique decided they wanted to use an image of another of my pieces, “Red Notebook” on the banner,

and an image of “Before the Fall” on their promotional postcard.

I was honored to be represented in this way, and also so happy to received boxes of marvelous Hemptique products/supplies/materials, to use not only in my works, but in projects, classes, programs and workshops that I conduct across LA Country. This was truly a win-win situation and I hope to continue the relationship with Hemptique, Nadine and the owners and staff with more collaborations and new ways of presenting, sharing about and promoting their wares.
Long Live HEMP!