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Debra Disman

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BOOK WORKS

In Reflection: “Three Sisters And Their Mother” and more

February 5, 2024 By Debra Disman

I was thrilled to have a solo exhibition last winter at ReflectSpace Gallery, part of Glendale Arts and Culture, in the Glendale Central Library which opened Saturday January 28th and was on view through March 19,2023.
The show, a dream come true that I did not even know I  had, was curated by the wonderful Ara and Anahid Oshagan of The City of Glendale and founders of the gallery..

I was fortunate to have master photographer Gene Ogami document the show.

I share here two images featuring a work entitled, “Three Sisters And Their Mother”, which  engages a concept and presentation I am still exploring.

“Three Sisters and Their Mother” (2022),  made of canvas, acrylic paint, hemp cord, sunlight and gravity, is approximately 30” x 72”. Its dimensions are variable depending on how it is installed, the intervals of space between the components or sections, the way its ever-tangling cord/string wanders across each section, how high or low to the ceiling or the floor it is positioned, and how much in relief from the wall it is hung. As Eva Hesse once said about a work or works of hers… Can it be different every time…? (paraphrase). Naomi Spector writes beautifully about these ideas as regards to Hesse’s work.

Also pictured are: (below and clockwise from “Three Sisters And Their Mother”)
“I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do”, (The titular work in the show), 2022,13 x 71.5”, repurposed table runner, acrylic paint, linen thread
“Finally”, (can hang on wall in slight relief), 2022, 48 x 19.5”, canvas, lace, hemp cord, sewing thread
“Excavation of the Interior”, 2021, 12″ x 28″ x 12.5″, wood, mulberry paper, canvas, muslin, watercolor paper, hemp cord, linen thread
Our human connections, gossamer though they may seem, form a tangled web that is always changing, and in some ways unfathomable, but there and always mysterious.

 

Filed Under: Exhibitions, New Work, Presentations, TEXTILE/FIBER, Work Tagged With: "Excavation of the Interior", "Finally", "I Can't I Won't I Will I Do", "Tree Sisters and Thier Monther", abstract, abstraction, Anahid Oshagan, Ara Oshagan, Book Festival, BOOK WORKS, Bookmakiing Workshops, Books, City of Glendale, Cord, Curators Ara Oshagan and  Anahid Oshagan, Director of Glendale Library Arts and Culture Gary Shaffer, Eva Hesse, Fiber, Fiber Art, Frida Cano, Gene Ogami, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Glendale Library Arts and Culture, Glendale Mayor Ardy Kassakhian, Handmade Books, Hangings, Jennifer Remenchick, Laurey Bennett-Levy, Mark Henry Samuel, Michelle Robinson, Naomi Spector, Rebecca Youseff, RefectSpaceGallery, Senator Anthony L. Portantino, series, Solo Exhibition, Solo Show, Stacie B. London, String, Suzanne Voss, Tapestry, Textile, Textile Art, Textiles, triptych

“We Right The Book” VI

January 3, 2018 By Debra Disman

“We Right The Book” VI

I was honored to serve as Artist in Residence at Verdugo Hill High School in Tujunga,  CA (Los Angeles) for a group of 41 Senior English class Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) students.

Our project ,  “We Right the Book” was supported by an Artist in Residence grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.  I worked with the students on a series of bookmaking projects during weekly workshops held right in the classroom from September – December, 2017.

The students’ completed book works were exhibited at the Sunland-Tujunga Branch Library on December 13, 2017.
Accordion fold books, flag books, tunnel books, scrolls, and side bound books…the results were stunning.
Below is a digital tour through the show.

Each student’s works were displayed together, except the scrolls, which were hung on the walls.

Students created extraordinary Tunnel Books with whimsical, innovative and imaginative use of materials.

They made Flag Books…with “Found” (collected from existing print media) Writing.

and Accordion Fold Books…

with elaborate pop-ups.

The students completed their final projects for the class in their side bound books…the theme: IDENTITY…Who they are…Where they want to go…How they see themselves.

A Junior VAPA English student peruses the side bound books. She looked at each and every one.

I would love to work with her next year!

Fingers Crossed for next year’s Residency!
Thank you, LA DCA.

Filed Under: Artist in Residence, Artists' Books, Student Work, Teaching Artist Tagged With: ACCORDION FOLD BOOKS, AIR, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, ARTIST'S BOOKS, BOOK WORKS, Bookmaking, CITY OF LOS ANGELES DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS, Community Artmaking, COMMUNITY BOOKMAKING, DCA, EXHBITION, Flag Books, HANDBOUND BOOKS, Handmade Books, HIGH SCHOOL VAPA STUDENTS, ONE-OF-A-KIND HANDMADE BOOKS, Scrolls, SIDE BOUND BOOKS, STUDENT ARTIST ASSISTANTS, SUNLAND-TUJUNGA BRANCH LIBRARY, Teaching Artist, Tunnel Books, Verdugo Hills High School

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