Debra Disman

Artist

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New Work

“KNOT SORRY” at Not Shockboxx!

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I am thrilled to participate in “Knot Sorry” at Not Shockboxx Gallery!
The “Knot Sorry” exhibition showcases bold fiber art in Los Angeles.
I will be showing for the first time a new work entitled: “Target Practice” which can be presented in multiple ways.

There’s something subversive about softness.
Knot Sorry pulls fiber art out of the polite, domestic corner and into the spotlight where it belongs — bold, labor-intensive, intimate, and impossible to ignore. This exhibition celebrates work made by hand, by time, by tension. Quilts that carry stories. Garments that feel like armor or confession. Threads that bind, unravel, and reassemble meaning.
We’re interested in fiber as both material and message. The slow process. The repetitive act. The history stitched into every surface. And the ways artists are pushing these traditions into something sharper, stranger, more personal.
Bring us the pieces that blur the line between craft and fine art. The ones that feel obsessive. Tender. Unapologetic. Work that holds weight — physically or emotionally — whether it’s stitched, knotted, woven, sewn, or layered into mixed media.
This is about care and control. About labor you can see. About softness that doesn’t ask permission.
No apologies. No minimizing.
Knot Sorry.
@notshockboxx

“FIBER ITERATION” at Textile Art Gallery NYC!

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 I am thrilled to  participate in:
Fiber Iterations
presented at Textile Art Gallery New York!

August 3-28, 2026

Opening Reception August 6, 4-6 pm

Fiber Iterations – Textile Art Gallery NYC  invited artists working in fiber and textile-based practices to submit work celebrating the versatility, innovation, and expressive potential of these mediums. The “Fiber Iterations” show was open to artists exploring traditional and contemporary approaches, including but not limited to weaving, embroidery, quilting, felting, tapestry, soft sculpture, mixed media, and experimental textile processes.

Textile Art Gallery New York is particularly interested in work that pushes the boundaries of fiber art, engages with cultural narratives, or examines materiality, sustainability, identity, and storytelling through textile forms.

Selected works are  featured in this curated exhibition aimed at highlighting the depth and diversity of fiber and textile art today. Artists will have the opportunity to share their work with a broader audience in the Chelsea Arts District and participate in programming related to the exhibition.

Juror: Dutch native Petra Fallaux is a writer, curator and artist based in Pittsburgh, PA

Petra Fallaux remarked that the quality of the submissions was “second to none.” The creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation demonstrated by artists from around the world made this an exceptional pool of work. We extend our sincere thanks to every artist who submitted their work and congratulate those selected for this outstanding exhibition.

295 artists submitted works, making the selection process both exciting and incredibly challenging for our juror. After careful review, 53 artists were selected for the exhibition. I am pleased to be showing:
The Body Politic: Like White on White, 2024, 9 x 16 x 7″, book board, paint, canvas, hemp/assorted cord, trim



INTERLUDE at the Sam Francis Gallery

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I was thrilled to participate in INTERLUDE, an student-curated exhibition presented at the Sam Francis Gallery.

“Interlude represents a home, a shelter, constructed against a world that can be too overwhelming
at times. This collection of works is intended to create serenity and observation. In the
exhibition, we strive to represent strong female voices. The works are connected through inner
reflection and gentle conveyance. They are not minimized by their subtlety, but they are
strengthened in their ability to impact without aggression. Interlude aims to invite contemplation,
a pause of mindfulness in everyday life.” —Pippa Ang, Curator

Please read Press Release HERE!



The student curatorial team, led by their teacher Janice Gomez.

 

 

My work, SANCTUARY: Know Safe Space was on view.
 

 
        
And a beautiful time was had by all….

The Material Intelligence of Touch

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I was delighted to participate in:
handwork 2026 logo

At the Marks Center, College of the Desert.

The exhibit a project of  Textile Arts LA, and curated by Carrie Burckle, brings together artists from Textile Arts LA whose work centers the hand as both method and metaphor. Inspired by artist Ann Hamilton’s concept of the “sewing hand”—the idea that making by hand is a way of knowing—we explore how tactile engagement with material connects body to mind, individual to community, and past to present.

Please VIEW THE WORKS IN THE SHOW HERE

I am delighted to participate with two works included [positioned side by side!

“La Forêt I” , 2024, 62 x 17 x 1”, canvas, acrylic paint, hemp/jute/cotton cord
and
“Communion“, 2025, 10.5 x 21.5 x 8.5” (dimensions variable), wood, hemp/assorted cord, acrylic paint

  

 

Many thanks again to friend and colleague and fellow artist
Deborah Lynn Irmas
for visiting and photographing the show sand my work in it, when I could not make it out to Palm Desert to see it live and in person!

Collaboration, Call and Response, Shoebox Arts and the Start Up Art Fair: THE FAIR!

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I was thrilled to participate in Shoebox Arts Call and Response Collaborative Book initiative to be presented at the Start Up LA Art Fair
February 27 – March 1, 2026, presenting my collaborative book created with artist Michelle Robinson, as part of Kristine Schomaker‘s CALL AND RESPONSE initiative, through her organization, Shoebox Arts!
The Kinney Venice Beach | 737 Washington Blvd, Venice, CA 90292 | Room 202

After five years of digital exchanges connecting artists across six continents, Call and Response went physical for the first time.

In October 2025, Shoebox Arts helmed by the extraordinary Kristine Schomocker   paired 190 artists to create collaborative books together. Four months later, approximately 90 unique collaborative works have been created: oracle decks, teabag weavings, painted photographs, sculptural volumes, accordion books, visual puzzles and more.

Each book represents a creative conversation between two artists/humans/makers. Participating artists have navigated time zones, shipping logistics, language barriers, and completely different creative approaches to make something neither could create alone.

This is Call and Response at its core: connection, radical trust, real collaboration.

This is collaboration without permission. Connection without barriers. Artists proving quality work doesn’t require institutional blessing—just willingness to make something with another. — Kristine Shoemaker
A project of @shoeboxarts.la
Exhibition: @callandresponseart

“When we embarked on this project together, it felt like a fortuitous pairing. We first met on social media several years ago and shared studio visits in the past, during which we discussed the formal similarities in our work, as well as our commitment to a deeply material practice and content that helps reframe human experience and perception. After a couple of Zoom discussions, our instinct was to combine Debra’s sculptural book forms with Michelle’s photographic collage images, creating a three-dimensional space that both tells a story and challenges our understanding of what a book can be. The viewer is invited to travel “In the Woods” of their own psyche, paradoxically reaching for enlightenment through traversing darkness.” — Debra Disman and Michelle Robinson, Co-creators of “In the Woods”


IN THE WOODS
12 x 20 x 20″ (Dimensions variable)
Materials: Book board, mulberry paper, acrylic paint, bookbinding cloth, archival adhesive, hemp cord, watercolor paper, book repair tape, book hinging tape, archival pigment prints on Moab Entrada rag paper . 


Michelle’s resonant prints, combined with my box structure created an immersive environment, inviting viewers to spend time “In the WOODS’ with us. The doors open and shut, but this work does not present an open and shut case.


Three prints, the brightest one in the center, adhered with acid-free adhesive, to three walls of the structure, leading the viewer to the dark house.
Facing darkness by moving through it.


Corners created with accordion folded heavy but foldable acid-free watercolor paper, resurfaced with strips of mulberry paper, overlaid with netted book repait cloth. Thank you to the devine Adrienne Devine for the book repair cloth as a material idea!


Creating an immersive environment, as per Michelle into which the viewer can become lost and found again, through their own journey.”Your dark forest of wonder is a great set of true. I experienced the darkness but its didn’t scare me at all.” — Gala Kovshilosky (@galaverse_art) March 1, 2026, Start up Fair, Los Angeles


In community with other works, each piece becomes something a bit different than the artists’ original intent, for the time they are together.


You have to look.
In Gratitude,
debra and michelle

Collaboration, Call and Response, Shoebox Arts and the Start Up Art Fair: Process 3

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CALL AND RESPONSE COMES TO STARTUP ART FAIR!

I am thrilled to participate in Shoebox Arts Call and Response Collaborative Book initiative to be presented at the Start Up LA Art Fair
February 27 – March 1, 2026
The Kinney Venice Beach | 737 Washington Blvd, Venice, CA 90292 | Room 202

After five years of digital exchanges connecting artists across six continents, Call and Response is going physical for the first time.

In October 2025, Shoebox Arts helmed by the extraordinary Kristine Schomocker   paired 190 artists to create collaborative books together. Four months later, we have approximately 90 unique collaborative works—oracle decks, teabag weavings, painted photographs, sculptural volumes, accordion books, visual puzzles.

Each book represents a creative conversation between two artists/humans/makers. Participating artists have navigated time zones, shipping logistics, language barriers, and completely different creative approaches to make something neither could have conceived alone.

This is Call and Response at its core: connection, radical trust, real collaboration.

This is collaboration without permission. Connection without barriers. Artists proving quality work doesn’t require institutional blessing—just willingness to make something with another.
A project of @shoeboxarts.la
Exhibition: @callandresponseart

The intimate hotel suite setting allows visitors to interact closely with each work—books displayed throughout the space on beds, tables, and dressers. This is a selling exhibition with works split equally between the two collaborating artists and Shoebox Arts.
Hours:

  • Friday, February 27: VIP Early Access 5-7pm | All Access 7-10pm

  • Saturday, February 28: 12pm – 9pm

  • Sunday, March 1: 12pm – 7pm

To attend this fun and wild event:
Get Tickets: www.startup-art.com/los-angeles