“Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense: the creative act“. —Kenneth Rexroth
Remain defended.

Artist
By Debra Disman
“Against the ruin of the world, there is only one defense: the creative act“. —Kenneth Rexroth
Remain defended.

By Debra Disman
It was thrilling to be in conversation with Joe Davich, Executive Director of the Georgia Center for the Book, supported by Ally Wright, Ph.D., Program Assistant, in concert with fellow artists Julie Fordham, Nicole Polonsky (all the way from London), Chris Revelle and Christian Feneck.
Watch and listen here:
By Debra Disman
Join us for an artist showcase, featuring 5 artists’ who have pieces in the 2020 The Book as Art v.8: Infinity exhibition: Debra Disman (“Maximum Security”; “Prairie”), Christian Feneck (“The Unmade Room”), Julie Fordham (“The Dream”), Nicole Polonsky (“32xF”), and Chris Revelle (“Living Monuments”). For more information about their work, visit the catalogue for the exhibition here: Book As Art, vol.8: Infinity Catalogue
Debra Disman is a Los Angeles-based artist working primarily in the form of the book, both as a solo practitioner and in the public sphere of community engagement. As a maker and teaching artist she creates work and projects which push the boundaries of the book into new forms and materials. Her work is shown in museums, galleries, universities and libraries across the US including The Brand Library and Art Center in Glendale, CA, Craft Contemporary in LA, The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Disman was the featured artist for the Big Read in LA in 2016; is the recipient of a WORD: Artist Grant / Bruce Geller Memorial Prize in 2016 to create “The Sheltering Book”, a life-sized book structure; and was commissioned by LA’s Craft Contemporary Museum to create an interactive book for their 2017 exhibition, “Chapters: Book Arts in Southern California.” She was a Studio Resident at the Camera Obscura Art Lab in 2018, and was awarded five Artist-in-Residence grants from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs since 2017 to work with the diverse Valley communities of LA.
Artist Christian Feneck combines his architectural training with painting, print, and installation art to create visual experiences of space using color. Feneck’s paintings explore the relationship of vision and the understanding of space by using architectural perspective conventions in combination with a layered series of translucent color fields.. Born in Massachusetts but raised primarily in Hawaii, California, and Florida, Feneck has resided in Fort Lauderdale since 2004. Feneck was a Visiting Professor of Architectural Design and Theory at Florida Atlantic University and participated in the FATVillage Artist Incubator Residency and the IS Projects Existent Books Residency programs. Feneck contributed to numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout South Florida as well as curated several installation art exhibitions.
Julie Fordham is a mixed media artist working in Atlanta, Ga. She attended Rhode Island School of Design where she studied Illustration. Julie’s work is a personal narrative. She uses plants, animals, and insects along with her figures to interpret the world and the people around her. She creates intuitively and enjoys experimenting with new materials. She loves tedium and contrast. The combination of rough texture with feminine details. Tons of miniscule stitches and lace. Bright colors with dark heavy feeling imagery. Words are added as a source of texture. Her work explores the symbolism tied to animals and plants and reframes them in a way that establishes her own visual vocabulary. She has shown around the city of Atlanta and Nashville, and participated in many shows at the Tannery Row Artist Colony in Buford.
Nicole Polonsky is a visual artist whose practice encompasses limited-edition prints, bookworks and multiples; drawing and unique object-making; writing; film, installations and performance. She also devises and produces group projects and exhibitions, and collaborates with other artists to realize cross-disciplinary ventures. Nicole gained her bachelor’s degree at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford, and master’s in Print at the Royal College of Art, London UK. She has shown extensively throughout her career. Recent exhibitions include lapse:re:lapse, MOCA London WE UK; Lighting Up Time, Northern Print and Side Cinema, Newcastle UK; A Pollock’s Gallimaufry, and The Contemporary Print, Flatbed Press and Gallery, Texas USA. In 2019 Nicole received an Arts Council England Project Grant for Lighting Up Time; she was shortlisted for the 2018 Flourish Award for Excellence in Printmaking and the 2016 Neo:Printprize .Nicole’s artworks are held in private collections internationally and public collections at Museum of Modern Art and Lafayette College; Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art,and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. Her work was featured in a number of publications including Creative Review, Art Monthly and Printmaking Today, as well as The Word is Art. Nicole lives and works in London, UK.
Chris Revelle is an interdisciplinary artist with a socially-engaged and research- based studio practice. Through the examination of history, language, and visual culture, Revelle’s work confronts the failures and abuses of social, political, and economic systems. The goal of his practice is to challenge public memory while inspiring discourse and empathy. Revelle has exhibited in the United States, Hong Kong, London, South Korea, and India. He was the recipient of the 2018 Idea Capital Grant and a finalist for the 2017 Hong Kong Human Rights Art Prize. Revelle has created work for United Nations organizations, and was formerly the Chair of Fine Arts at Savannah College of Art and Design, Hong Kong, and a Faculty Instructor of Painting and Drawing at Arizona State University. He earned his Master of Fine Arts from the School of Art at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) in Valencia, CA.
By Debra Disman
I was thrilled to be part of the exhibition “TRANSITION“, presented by Tarfest 2020, produced by Launch LA, and juried by the wonderful Holly Jerger, curator for Craft Contemporary.
Tour the show with Founder/Executive Director of Launch LA James Panozzo here.

I showed “Torrent and Tangle: Keep your House in Order“, 2019, 10.5 x 25 x 18”, made of book board, hemp cord, ribbon, lace, mulberry paper, acrylic paint, and neutral PH adhesive.

The piece was created in a bottomless box format,

with two accordion folded joins, or back corners,

and two “front doors” hinged with cloth and surfaced with strips of ribbon, that can be opened,

or kept closed,

with any amount of the hanging internal strings kept in, or emerging, flowing or falling out of the structure,

depending on how the those designing the show wish it to appear.

Hemp cords knotted on one end were threaded through awl-punched holes on three sides,

after the inside surfaces were lined with lace,

tumbling down in a torrent into a tangled heap onto the surface where the piece is placed.

How will we get this all sorted out?
Nobody really knows, but this much is clear, we are in this together. Endemic of contemporary life, torrent and tangle is taken to the extreme by the current pandemic. We will get through this. We have to.
By Debra Disman
I am honored to show two pieces in The Book As Art v.8: Infinity
exhibition happening:
August 28 through October 17 | virtual tour only
The Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library
215 Sycamore St., Decatur, Ga. 30030
The Book As Art v.8: Infinity is installed at the Decatur Branch of the DeKalb County Public Library, and virtual tours, artist talks, and more will be provided throughout its run. Check out the catalog, and remember, these works are available for purchase!
I am showing: “PRAIRIE“and “MAXIMUM SECURITY” below.

“Held in the hand, a book can be a source of stability in unsettled times. Tactile and olfactory, the black and white pages conjure emotions and images that endure longer than flickering light on small screens. From tablet to folio, papyrus to scroll, song to psalm—all are created as a concept that becomes thought, becomes word, becomes book, becomes sculpture. These objects, in an increasingly digital world, stubbornly survive. The objects in this exhibition will interpret the concept of the book and invite the viewer to look beyond the printed page to where ideas, words, and symbols are transformed and are transfigurative.
They are expressive, expansive and iconic. They have become form, and are infinite.
The Book as Art v.8: Infinity is the eighth edition of this critically acclaimed artists book exhibition established by the Decatur Arts Alliance in 2013. Entries hail from across the United States and around the world, and from emerging artists as well as recognized masters in the genre. The Book as Art is pleased to present these examples from the finest in the field.”
Oct. 7: Artist Talk with Valerie Aranda and Clemente Orozco Farías
Oct. 14: Artist Talk with Stephanie Russ and Isabelle Fleurelien
Oct. 21: Artist Interview: Peggy Johnston
Oct. 28: Artist Showcase and Discussion: Nicole Polonsky, Christian Feneck, Chris Revelle, Debra Disman
By Debra Disman

Visual Feast…Eye Candy…Material World

Colorful packets of bookmaking materials
The Art of the Book: Crafting Our Stories By Hand is an online workshop series specifically designed by Craft Contemporary and artist Debra Disman for adults over the age of 55. This program is made possible by funding from Aroha Philanthropies and is part of a nationwide campaign to bring thoughtful and specialized programs to a valuable population that is often undeserved by arts institutions.We invite you to register for this cycle’s participant cohort. This 8-session bookmaking series taught by artist Debra Disman will meet through the online platform Zoom, every Friday at 11am – 1pm. Starting August 7 through September 18, 2020. The program will conclude with a final presentation and discussion of works and experiences, participants will also be provided a group document and online presence to share their work with friends and family.

Hemp cord and prepped book pages and covers for sewn book structures, bright tagboard for folded and glued book forms.
Objective: Learn how to create folded, glued and sewn book structures. Learn how to use bookmaking as an expressive vehicle for communication. Learn to share stories through the medium of bookmaking
Participants will be introduced to ideas of storytelling through materials and the handmade. We will explore what the term book means, why books are important, and how they have functioned through time and culture.

Andres‘s helping hands and design eye
Orientation: Friday, August 7
Session 1: Friday, August 14
Session 2: Friday, August 21
Session 3: Friday, August 28
Session 4: Friday, September 4
Session 5: Friday, September 11
Critique & Wrap-up: Friday, September 18
Culminating Event: Friday, September 25
Andres Payan Estrada, Curator of Public Engagement at Craft Contemporary in action, prepping materials packets for participants.
