I am honored to have been filmed by Arthur James at 18th Street Arts Center for the series:
On Being An Artist.
Artist
By Debra Disman
I am honored to have been filmed by Arthur James at 18th Street Arts Center for the series:
On Being An Artist.
By Debra Disman
https://view.publitas.com/inland-empire-museum-of-art/art_of_the_word/
By Debra Disman
“CONTEMPLATING BOUNDARIES” was held
“Boundaries exist in all cultures-often as social constructs serving to regulate our actions, norms, taboos, and space. They may be codified laws, common societal traditions, or even self-imposed rules.
“Contemplating Boundaries” brought together artists from across Southern California whose practices contemplate and reflect barriers, labels and limits- whatever their origin or purpose. These artists and their works- define our times, providing an authentic lens to view contemporary culture.
JURORS TeaYoun Kim-Kassor (Professor, Department Chair, Otis College of Art and Design) TeaYoun Kim-Kassor (Phonetically, TaeYun: “Tea” as in “Taylor” & “Youn” as in “Sun”) is originally from South Korea and has a varied background in education; she received academic degrees in S. Korea, Japan, and the U.S. As an artist, educator, and cultural ambassador, she has been developing her artistic path, teaching pedagogy, leadership, and management skills to embark on transnational education and emphasize the importance of understanding global perspectives. She is currently a Professor and Department Chair of the Foundation Program at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, CA. |
Mika Cho (Professor, ART/Director, Cal State LA Fine Arts Gallery) Dr. Mika Cho was appointed as Special Assistant to the President for Arts and the director of the Cal State LA Fine Arts Gallery in 2017. Prior to her appointment as the director of the Fine Arts Gallery she served as the chair of the Art Department. She is art educator, researcher, educational consultant, curator and visual artist, the last comprising numerous exhibitions at museums and galleries. Her research interests are in art-related and educational issues, which she shares through publications and extensive conference presentations nationally and internationally. |
By Debra Disman
We were lucky to catch up with Debra Disman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Debra, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I think resilience is something that you can observe over time, and its level shifts around on a day to day basis, depending on what is going on both internally and externally in the moment. One of the most important factors in my practice is consistent work, showing up at the studio each day, and doing what I can to move things forward. I apply this to my other work too: administrative tasks, online presence, applications, writing, meetings, planning and an array of teaching activities. Especially when something feels daunting, I try to do even the smallest task to move the needle. After a while, this can become a habit, and helps to break down the enormity of all that needs to be done into something more manageable and even fun! Speaking of fun, claiming that which is enjoyable, taking moments to relax and refresh, and even “putting it all down” for a time as my Mother used to say, helps me to clear my mind, gather my thoughts, renew my energy, and come back to work stronger and with greater clarity. All the basics, including exercise, connecting with nature, meditative activities, playful time with loved ones, and especially focusing on the breath, can help offset the overwhelm and eventual burn-out that can happen with constant input, and even inspiration. Sometimes we just have to turn all of that off , focus inward, and return to our most basic selves. Be silly for a second! Paradoxically, that process can allow space not only for new ideas and insights to emerge, but may provide inner direction on the knotty choices and decisions that have to be made in everyone’s life. Make room for joy!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Springing initially from the form of the book, specifically the western codex, my work traverses tapestry, installation and sculpture to push the familiar into forms that arrest, baffle and bewilder while simultaneously offering rest, solace and contemplation. I employ the materiality of fiber to engage the senses, and invite altered ways of experiencing the world and how we inhabit it, both soothing and confounding the eye with uneven visual repetition. Through this means of stabilizing and destabilizing, I hope to instigate fundamental questions that encourage an exploration and examination of what we think we know and are.
Devoted to material labor, I love nothing more than to be submerged in material manipulation, which inevitably will yield some kind of distilled meaning. The evocative, visceral and profoundly physical quality of materials drives the action of my work, giving its emotional resonance, vis a vis how they are used. I am compelled to layer, wrap, stitch, knot, tie and glue, as well as paint, draw and write, intuitively layering, complicating and disrupting the surface to add levels of meaning, and ultimately a unity of plane and form.
Often, the meaning becomes clear during or after this process, rather than as a directive before, as if it had been there all along, and simply surfaced during the act of making.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
What is described as generosity is very important. Whether it is as a teaching artist with students and participants, a small business-owner with clients, or an artist with viewers, curators, collectors, or any others in the art “eco-system”, I have found that it is critical to consider others’ needs, what they may be going through, and to support their efforts. This is always a balancing act, and thus the next on the list would reverb back to resilience as discussed earlier, and balance: balance between giving to others and giving to yourself, between giving and taking, between doing /action, and dream space. As mentioned before when discussing resilience, it is critical not to burn out before you have even defined your journey! Break down tasks, even the most abstract or indefinable, into manageable “chunks”, do one thing at a time, take breaks to relax your mind, and engage in non-work activities to nourish yourself both on your own and with others. Finally, continue to learn and grow both individually and in community. I have engaged in numerous learning activities which have been extremely beneficial, often in ways I could not have imagined, including organized certificate programs, joining groups where I met with and learned from and with others, and even online activities. Learning in community can be challenging, but even those challenges can help you to grow, and learn even more.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The number one challenge I face at this moment is TIME! How to manage it, what decisions to make about how I spend it and how to claim it for myself as the world gets ever more complex and demanding. There is a saying, “The reward for work is more work”, and I have found this to be true. As I do more, evolve my work, take on more projects, connect with more people, participate in more shows and engage with more opportunities, I have to continue to make more choices about how I spend my time and energy in a shifting landscape.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Photographer: Gene Ogami
By Debra Disman
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!
By Debra Disman
Interview Copy:
Debra, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in the Chicago area where the Chicago Art Institute became a second home, and took art classes growing up, both in and out of school. In high school, I also started working in community arts as a volunteer and continued this when I went to college at the University of Iowa. I was an art major with a focus on painting but also studied drawing, printmaking, literature and creative writing, and was in the Iowa Undergraduate Writers’ Workshop in Poetry, which was one of the reasons I went there. I have always had a passionate interest in both image and text (“art and writing” as we used to call it!) and their interrelationship, and have sought ways to put them together, as evidenced in my current book, object, installation and “textual tapestry” works. I also studied a year in France, learning the language and traveling extensively, imbibing masterworks, architecture, landscape and craft, which sparked a lifelong love of travel and cultural explorations. From the very beginning, teaching has been part of my career, and when I moved to San Francisco after graduation, I began teaching onsite at the De Young Museum and through their urban outreach program, an experience which has informed my work ever since as a teaching artist in the Bay Area and now across Los Angeles County, as I engage with its diverse communities. Working as both a solo practitioner alone in the studio and in the public sphere of community engagement offers a rich practice and life, which compels and challenges commitment and creativity from all angles.
I worked this way in San Francisco for many years, showing in the Bay Area and across the country and then became involved with painting art furniture while trying to learn business skills. I had a San Francisco-based entrepreneurial enterprise for 15 years called ArtiFactory Studio, providing decorative painting, color consultation, surface design and murals to clients from all backgrounds and walks of life, as well as organizations and businesses, and continued teaching as well during much of this time. I went through the certificate programs of both the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center in San Francisco and the International Association of Colour Consultants/Designers in San Diego, and later the UCLArts and Healing Social and Emotional Arts (SEA) Certificate Program, The Annenberg—Inner-City Arts Professional Development Program and “Creativity” series, and the Cal State Los Angeles/City of LA Deprtment of Cultural Affairs Community Teaching Artist Program, to enhance my skills, broaden my education and connect with others, which has been invaluable to my work and career on all fronts.
When I relocated to Los Angeles in 2012, I knew I wanted to recommit to an evolving studio practice and teach in the community. I began proposing bookmaking and other workshops to my local Santa Monica Library, and to my delighted surprise, was able to start teaching almost right away. I had made artists’ books and taught bookmaking and story-writing in San Francisco, but took the object of the book and the teaching of bookmaking structures to a whole other level in Los Angeles. By dint of persistent and concentrated effort, I have been able to develop a multi-faceted practice around these which has allowed me to exhibit my work in galleries, museums, universities and libraries across LA and the US and teach in an array of community settings and situations. I am honored to be an enthusiastic local artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, serve as an artist-in-residence for the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs, and to have received a Santa Monica Artist Fellowship in 2021, all of which have allowed me to continue, develop and grow my work, practice and life!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think any path in life is smooth! There are always challenges, obstacles, contradictions and paradoxes encountered along the way. I have been privileged to create and be offered a number of opportunities here in the LA area, including being referred to Voyage LA by my colleague and twice collaborator Luciana Abait! I made huge changes in my work and the way I worked when we moved to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 2012. The very essence of the environment, art scene and offerings is so different in flavor, scale, intensity and mindset. In San Francisco, I had been focused on working as an entrepreneur doing custom and commissioned work for individual clients, so it was very client-driven and collaborative which I loved. When I moved to LA, I knew I was going to return to an individual studio practice and transform my way of working though I did not know exactly which form it would take. I concentrated on building up my work as a teaching artist to connect with and support the community and allow me the freedom to pursue my own inclinations, vision and voice in the studio. These two aspects of my practice have worked very well together but it has not been for lack of concerted work and effort. I knew very few folks when we moved here, so the whole process has been a glorious exploration and voyage of discovery of my own evolving creative path as well as of this remarkable and continually transforming city and region, which offers so much and seems to have a place for everyone who is willing to make the effort.
One of my biggest challenges at this point is time and how to allocate it! Between teaching artist gigs and studio work, pursuing and participating in exhibitions, studio visits, residencies and project grants, the time to view gallery and museum shows requires a lot of decision-making, and I am not able to see all I would love to see. I am continually working on the time and energy management of my work and career in all its permutations, also because it is important to show up and support others.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a visual artist with a strong background in writing who works both as a solo practitioner and in the public sphere of community engagement. I am known for my work inspired by the book, which traverses tapestry, installation and sculpture, often pushing familiar forms into works that arrest and baffle while simultaneously (I hope) offering places of contemplation and solace. As a maker and teaching artist, I aim to offer and invite altered ways of viewing the world and how we inhabit it and instigate exploration and examination of what we think we know and are. I do this in very conceptual ways in the studio and in more direct, concrete ways with students and the community-at-large.
Although I am seen to fall into the “categories” of book artist as well as fiber and textile artist because of my use of string, cord, thread and cloth/fabric/textiles, I identify as a contemporary artist working in two and three dimensions with the materials that most move and matter to me at any given time. The evocative, visceral, physical quality of materials drives my work and gives it its emotional resonance and relevance vis a vis how it is used. I am compelled to layer, wrap, stitch, knot and glue as well as paint, draw and write. The “tactile textile” becomes “text-ual” as well as textural when text is added to it, which is another way of layering, disrupting and complicating the surface to add levels of meaning. I love repetitive labor in making, and finding more and more ways to engage with a specific material, such as sewing and stitching with cord, then knotting and wrapping with it, then gluing it to a surface. One process inspires another, illuminating the expressive potential of the medium.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I think the art world, like all other sectors of society, is always shifting and changing, but certain issues remain the same such as surviving and thriving as an artist, which for most in today’s world requires entrepreneurial skills and the ability to create your own opportunities; the comparative scarcity and expense of studio space and other necessary resources for artmaking, even including the availability of materials held up by supply chain issues; gatekeeping and bureaucracy; elitism and status issues, competitiveness, hierarchy and the proverbial internalized pecking order; and ongoing inequities as regards to race, gender and class which can severely limit opportunities and challenge basic functioning in the art world and world-at-large. There are institutional and organizational efforts being made to combat, mitigate and better these conditions, but it is slow-going, and it remains to be seen whether such efforts will continue and grow or whether they will be revealed to be a trend, momentarily capturing our ever-decreasing attention spans.
As we get more and more entwined with digital interactions and social media in particular, I think it gets harder to connect to what is real and tangible, even visceral, which is what I feel we as humans crave. The digital world offers many opportunities for those who are able to effectively use and not be consumed by it, so the balance is tricky. The art world reflects this tension, and artists, craftspeople and other makers are working to resolve it in a myriad of creative ways.
I think we will see more and more efforts on the part of individuals to balance and integrate seeming opposed factors and conditions such as online versus in-person; material/physical verses digital; ideas and theories verses feelings and behaviors; and the effects of these seeming sets of opposites. The business, institutional, political and academic worlds may follow suite in their offerings if they see that this balance and integration is what the folks on the ground want and are willing to stand behind, as ultimately their survival and relevance depend on people’s engagement with what they present. These changes take time and energy, two things that are always at a premium.”
Contact Info:
“We started Voyage Group of Magazines in Los Angeles, with our flagship publication VoyageLA. After generating our first million page views in LA we knew our content was resonating with the community.
We’ve since grown to a handful of other amazing cities with the help of an amazing network of friends, associates, local insiders and influencers, PR firms, local bloggers, artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and other professionals.
Our small team has been working hard to create a new type of media for our community. As you browse through our stories you’ll notice that many of our interviews aren’t as polished as you’ll find elsewhere in the media. That’s intentional – we believe that far too many in the media filter, edit, and polish away the personality of interviewees and as a result so much of what we see in the media feels like it’s coming from the same person, the same voice, etc. We think it’s important for media to more authentically represent the communities they serve and so we try to ensure that voices of those we feature jump off the page.
We also think artists rock. We love small businesses, mom-n-pops, and food trucks. We’re not snobs, but we aren’t fond of most chains. We think independent entrepreneurs, freelancers and other risk takers make our cities exciting to live in. We cherish the rebel spirit, we don’t think just a handful of large corporations should control all of our commerce and we think smores with vegan marshmallows are better than normal marshmallows. We respect people and organizations that take the path less traveled. We root for the underdogs and we almost never say no to pizza.
Accordingly our mission is to build a platform that fosters collaboration and support for small businesses, independent artists and entrepreneurs, local institutions and those that make our city interesting. We want to change the way people spend their money – rather than spending it with the big, cookie-cutter corporations we want them to spend their money with the independent, creative, local entrepreneurs, small businesses and artists.
And finally, we want the stories we share to help give our big city a little bit of that small town community charm, where people know each other and their stories at a deeper, more personal level.“