Debra Disman

Artist

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Exhibitions

The Fantasticalness of Fiber

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I was honored to participate in FANTASTIC FIBERS 2021 at the Yeiser Art Center.
What a fantastic experience!

“One of  Yeiser Art Center’s most engaging and innovative international exhibitions, FANTASTIC FIBERS is showcasing a wide range of outstanding contemporary works related to the fiber medium.”

HISTORY:
The show began in 1987 as a wearable art show but has evolved over the years to include a compelling mix of traditional and non-traditional works created from natural or synthetic fibers, and work that addresses the subject or medium of fiber.  Paducah becomes a Mecca for quilters and quilt enthusiasts each April as more than 30,000 visitors from across the globe attend AQS QuiltWeek. 

I showed “PROFUSION”  a sculptural Artists’ Book made of book board, mulberry paper, paint, canvas, watercolor paper and hemp cord. It stands upright on a pedestal, shelf, table or another surface parallel to the floor. When opened, it can span up to 24.5″ wide:

JUROR:  Sandra Johnson
“My quilt journey started over 30 years ago and I continue to be inspired by the myriad of fabrics and techniques learned over time. I am a passionate teacher who encourages students to create unique fabric creations, whether the end product is a quilt or garment. Creating what is important to the maker is a joyful experience that I try to pass on in my workshops. Wherever you are in your design process my goal is to inspire your creative “genius” and improve your techniques. 
Hand sewing with my grandmother started it all. From the beginning, the process of transforming fabric into art struck me as magical. Sewing was the foundation that led me into quilting. What started as a hobby turned my passion into an artistic reality.
I love to hand stitch using the traditional Japanese Sashiko and Boro embroidery styles and incorporating them as a decorative feature into my designs. The concrete, repetitive nature of this work frees my imagination provides many opportunities for happy accidents and grace to influence the finished product.
My core materials for quilting are thread and fabric, however, I often employ recycled denim, yarns, dyed fabrics and stamps to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. I hold a B.S. in Clothing, Textiles and Design from Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.
Recently, I discovered modern quilting: simple, crayoned patchworks that resonate deeply with my fiber work. Inspired and invigorated by a renewed sense of continuity, and awed by the mystery of how creation occurs, my process allows me to explore visions to enable my creative work to evolve and grow.” 

TOUR THE SHOW!!!!

Worth “A Thousand Words”

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It was a pleasure to participate in Core New Art Space‘s exhibition: 

Juror, Richard Chamberlain, pursues several lines of work in visual and performing arts and is a published poet as well. He was looking for: “….works that tell a story. Realistically, abstractly or expressionistically inspired by literature and legends, poetry and parables, novels and narratives, myths and metaphors, artworks have their own fictions, fables, folklore or fairytales. Artworks can be worth a thousand words. The exhibited works were judged on overall impact, content, composition and mastery of techniques, as well as attention to creativity and craftsmanship.”

Below are images of the show, including my work, “Window Treatment“, a sculptural artists’ book,
perhaps evoking the film, “Rear Window”.
What stories go on behind these windows?!

 

Turmoil, and…Transformation?

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“Turmoil and Transformation” is  an exhibition showing at the Hera Gallery and Educational Foundation, a non-profit, artist-run organization that  has continued to stimulate discussion and challenge perceptions for over 40 years. This creative space has allowed countless artists a place for transformation, exploration, and community with one another which has been BRINGING CREATIVITY TO THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1974

“2020 was a year that was filled with worldwide turmoil. The Pandemic. Another reckoning with racism and police brutality. Climate Change, wildfires, hurricanes, and droughts.  The undermining and politicization of science. The widening political divide. An election with voting rights, healthcare, immigration, paid sick leave, income inequality, living wages, reproductive rights, LGBTQIA rights, our environment and the future of democracy at stake.

Is this turmoil leading to transformation? And what kind of transformation is it going to be?”

Hera Gallery/ Hera Educational Foundation presents work that addresses the current turmoil and visions of our future. What are the emotional, physical and spiritual effects of the turmoil and how might they manifest into the transformation? What does our world look like and what might it look like post-2020. Will transformation reflect the multiplicity of voices of America? How will our future be transformed by the current chaos?

The juror,  Francine Weiss is the Senior Curator at the Newport Art Museum in Rhode Island where she curates exhibitions of contemporary art, photography, and American art. Her recent exhibitions include “Andy Warhol: Big Shot,”  “The Shapes of Birds: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa,” and “Domestic Affairs” among others. Her past positions include Curator at the Photographic Resource Center (Boston, MA), Acting Assistant Curator in the Department of Photographs at the National Gallery of Art (Washington DC), Curatorial Fellow at the deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum, and Curatorial Fellow of American art at Harvard University Art Museums (both in MA) among others. She has taught art history at Wellesley College, Simmons College, and Boston University (all in MA) and has taught and advised students in the MFA program at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College. Dr. Weiss has a Ph.D. in American studies, specializing in art and photography, from Boston University and a B.A. from Wellesley College in English. She has received fellowships from the Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC), Georgia O’Keeffe Museum and Research Center (NM), Center for Creative Photography (AZ), The Huntington (CA), and Harry Ransom Center (TX). She has published widely on photography and American art.

Sharing my own version of well, turmoil at least: Torrent and Tangle: Keep Your House in Order, (Haven’t we all been there-here)
2019, 10.5 x 25 x 18”, mixed media (book board, lace, ribbon, mulberry paper, hemp cord, watercolor paper

Here hoping that Your Turmoil, Torrent and Tangle work as positive forces to help You reach Your desired transformation, in 2021

Insight into Insight

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The Cape Cod Museum of Art presents:  INSIGHT.

“When spoken, this word can be broadly understood as – Insight, In Sight and Incite. What is Your interpretation?”
I am thrilled to be part of this evocative exhibition, taking place in CCMA’s expansive Hope / McClennen exhibition hall. The show is available virtually on the Museum website .

I thank Mark Chester of  Mark Chester Photography and fellow exhibitor in the show (please see his marvelous, iconic portrait image introducing the exhibition) for gifting me with photos of my work MAXIMUM SECURITY (15 x 18 x 10.25″, mixed media (book board, canvas, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, hemp cord, wood) in the show.

 All of the following photographs are by Mark Chester of  Mark Chester Photography.
Thank you Mark for sharing my work.  I am honored to share yours!

 

The juror is Grace Hopkins, gallery director at the Berta Walker Galleries in Provincetown, and Wellfleet, MA,  and an international guidance counselor for the arts. In a 2014 review of her own artwork in The Banner, Susan Rand Brown called Hopkins: “A photographer with the eye and soul of a painter,” and said “The images she shoots suggest the sharply angled details of a Franz Kline, geometric shapes and flat colors of her father (Budd Hopkins) or a sudden burst of translucent layers, which could have been – but definitely are not – details from a collage by Robert Motherwell. Suddenly a viewer feels surrounded by the freshness of expressionist imagery and motion, each piece different, each piece allusive yet quite original.”

523 artworks were submitted by 272 artists from 30 states across the country for INSIGHT. Only 65 artworks have been selected from 60 artists in 16 states.

Says Grace Hopkins of selecting the work for this show: 
“Narrowing down the artwork for this exhibition was challenging. I first had to digest all 500+ submissions as a whole before any threads of meaning could be drawn between the works, and a final cohesive subset could be chosen. As a gallery director I am regularly confronted with an aesthetic puzzle. But, when you throw in the added thematic complexity of INSIGHT and the sheer number of works submitted, making a final selection was both a demanding and rewarding exercise in distillation. I want to thank everyone who came forward and placed their artwork into this pool. Another juror, with different values and sensibilities would have solved this very differently. Your collective vision, ability and insight moved me.”

INSIGHT runs through June 20, 2021

Turmoil, Transition and conVERGEnce: What’s in a Name?

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What is in a name?

“A rose is a rose is a rose“, poetically stated the writer Gertrude Stein.
The line is from Stein’s poem Sacred Emily, written in 1913 and published in 1922, in Geography and Plays. The verbatim line is actually, ‘Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose’.

But, is it?

What do names, titles, words, actually mean? What do they tell us about the current moment, about the times we are living in? Living through?

Fascinating are the titles of exhibitions I have taken part in, since the beginning of 2021, nearly a year after the Corona Virus/COVID 19/Pandemic transformed  the world into an altered…world.

Titles including:
Home Sick
Recovery Justice: Being Well
Insight
Content
A Thousand Words
Turmoil and Transformation
conVERGEnce

and during 2020:
Transition
Building Networks of Empathy
Chasing Ghosts V: Art that Pierces the Veil through Remembrance, Legacy, & Beyond
Facing Darkness
Illuminate
Identity

To get a sign of the times, read the signs.
Literally.

To Your Health!

 

 

 

Worth “A Thousand Words”

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It was a pleasure to participate in Core New Art Space‘s exhibition: 

Juror, Richard Chamberlain, pursues several lines of work in visual and performing arts and is a published poet as well. He was looking for: “….works that tell a story. Realistically, abstractly or expressionistically inspired by literature and legends, poetry and parables, novels and narratives, myths and metaphors, artworks have their own fictions, fables, folklore or fairytales. Artworks can be worth a thousand words. The exhibited works were judged on overall impact, content, composition and mastery of techniques, as well as attention to creativity and craftsmanship.”

Below are images of the show, including my work, “Window Treatment“, a sculptural artists’ book,
perhaps evoking the film, “Rear Window”.
What stories go on behind these windows?!