Debra Disman

Artist

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Fiber

Inspired by the Story Quilts of Faith Ringgold

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Keeping the FAITH through “Story Quilting”!

I am thrilled to be teaching MAKING ART INSPIRED BY GREAT ARTISTS  at Grant and McKinley Elementary Schools in the Santa Monica Public School System through the CREST Enrichment program.

After a span of two years, teaching live and in-person is exciting and energizing. The students are enthusiastic, helpful and creative and IMAGINATIVE and the parents and staff supportive and engaged.

Everyone is working together to make in-person teaching a safe and rewarding experience. Despite the challenges and great energy required, what fun to see these young artists exercise their imaginations, play, learn and create!

Students responded positively to our “Story Quilt” project, inspired by the Great Artist, Faith Ringgold.
Put cloth in their hands, and away they go!

Joyous play and exploration of fabric, cloth scrap, felt (actually made of acrylic- durable!) and tacky glue!

Studio Notes: Texture Tactility Tactile Textile

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Today I am sharing some explorations into “tactile textiles,”, a term coined, as  understand it, by Anni Albers, tactile textile artist/weaver!

Such works and materials become spaces, places, rooms, lands, terrain, forests…tactile explorations into the unknown, guided by, among other things, the sense of touch, a tactile sensibility.

 

Detail of “Forest Through The Trees”, book board, hemp cord, wood, canvas, acrylic paint, used typewriter ribbon, ribbon

Test piece/sample, paper, jute cord

Detail of “It’s Not Black or White”,  book board, mulberry paper, used typewriter ribbon

Detail of “FruitFull” (in process), textile samples, hemp cord

Stacked pieces of “to the trade” folded textile samples


Stacked pieces of repurposed and folded denim cut from jeans

Fantastical….2022!

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I am honored to be participating in FANTASTIC FIBERS, (2022), an international juried exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium. It was a wonderful experience to be a part of FANTASTIC FIBERS 2021, and i very much look forward to seeing (albeit online) all the works in this year’s show!

One of Yeiser Art Center’s most engaging, innovative & colorful international exhibits, Fantastic Fibers is an inspirational must-see for fine artists, quilters and textile art enthusiasts across the globe. The exhibition is comprised of contemporary and innovative works created with fiber as the primary medium or concept

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.

View a video of the show here!

JUROR: Matt Collinsworth
Matt Collinsworth became the new CEO of the National Quilt Museum during the summer of 2021.  Matt attended Georgetown College in central Kentucky and received his MFA from Ohio State.  He has been directing nonprofit organizations since 1998 and museum’s and other cultural organizations since 2003.  Matt has served as Director of the Kentucky Folk Art Center, Senior Director of Cultural Outreach at Morehead State University, Interim Director of the Lexington Art League, and Director of the National Music Museum.  Matt has curated and co-curated dozens of exhibitions that have appeared at museums and galleries across the country, including national and international traveling shows. He also produced numerous major exhibition catalogs, overseen large cultural events, and led several facility renovation projects. Matt lives in Paducah’s Lowertown Arts District with his wife, Kelly, his son, Eli, and (when she’s home from college) his daughter, Brynn.

I am especially thrilled to be showing “Excavation of the Interior”, a work completed in 2021, made of wood, mulberry paper, watercolor paper, muslin, canvas, hemp cord and linen thread.



Artist Amy Usdin photographs the show!


Exterior/Closed


Interior/Open


Interior/Detail


Exterior/Closed


Exterior/Spine-Back

EXHIBITIONISTA: FANTASTIC FIBERS 2022

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I am thrilled to be participating in FANTASTIC FIBERS 2022, an international juried exhibition that seeks to showcase a wide range of outstanding works related to the fiber medium.

Pictured, my work, “Excavation of the Interior“, 2021

One of Yeiser Art Center’s most engaging, innovative & colorful international exhibits, Fantastic Fibers is an inspirational must-see for fine artists, quilters and textile art enthusiasts across the globe.

Contemporary and innovative works created with fiber as the primary medium or concept were welcome. This exhibition was open to all artists 18 years and over working in the field of fiber art.

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.

JUROR: Matt Collinsworth
Matt Collinsworth became the new CEO of the National Quilt Museum during the summer of 2021.  Matt attended Georgetown College in central Kentucky and received his MFA from Ohio State.  He has been directing nonprofit organizations since 1998 and museum’s and other cultural organizations since 2003.  Matt has served as Director of the Kentucky Folk Art Center, Senior Director of Cultural Outreach at Morehead State University, Interim Director of the Lexington Art League, and Director of the National Music Museum.  Matt has curated and co-curated dozens of exhibitions that have appeared at museums and galleries across the country, including national and international traveling shows. He also produced numerous major exhibition catalogs, overseen large cultural events, and led several facility renovation projects. Matt lives in Paducah’s Lowertown Arts District with his wife, Kelly, his son, Eli, and (when she’s home from college) his daughter, Brynn.

EXPO 41 at B.J. Spokes Gallery

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I am thrilled to be included in:


a virtual exhibition of the b.j. spoke gallery

The show was juried by Sewon Kang, Archivist at The Easton/Bourgeois Archive, formerly Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, who selected the work of 15 artists. I am honored to be included in this roster of stunning creative makers.

Artists and their selected works can be viewed below. Enjoy

David Acquistapace, Saint Louis, MO
Kat Alyst, Austin, TX
Neville Barbour, Silver Spring, MD
Matthew Barton, New Orleans, LA
Kimberlyn Bloise, Edinboro, PA
Stephen Delaney, Middleton, MA
Debra Disman, Los Angeles, CA		 Eriko Kobayashi, Carbondale, IL
Anthony Adonis Lewis, Ashland, OR
Kambel Smith, Philadelphia, PA
Karen Theisen, Santa Fe, NM
Amy Usdin, Mendota Heights, MN
Jae Yun Yi, Seoul Korea
Dier Zhang, Brooklyn, NY
Foad Seyed Mohammadi, Gainesville FL

I am showing:
Excavation of the Interior, 2021, 12 x 28 x 12.5″, mixed media (wood, canvas, muslin, mulberry paper, hemp cord, linen thread, watercolor paper)

and
Forest Through The Trees, 2021, 15 x 42 x 12″, mixed media (book board, acrylic paint, hemp cord, wood, canvas, typewriter tape, lace, watercolor paper)

ARTIST STATEMENT                                              
 I work in the form of the book, in forms evoked by the book, and in multidimensional media of my own devising. Both as a solo practitioner and in the public sphere of community engagement I push the body and boundaries of the book into new media, materials and meanings to invite altered ways of viewing the world and how we inhabit it. Although much of the work continues to relate to loose definitions of the book as structure, it is moving into other sculptural and conceptual realms where devotion to material labor and a passion for the haptic become powerful motivators and themes. I am fascinated by the parallels between books and buildings in terms of architecture, meaning and utility. Each constructs public and private spaces where stories are “read” on many levels, often revealing more than their makers ever intended. My work seeks to offer places of contemplation, solace and bafflement, while instigating exploration, investigation and examination of what we think we know, and are.

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Material III at the D’Art Center

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I am thrilled to be showing in MATERIAL III at the D’Art Center, “an exhibition of original fiber artworks from across the country highlighting the quality and variety of artworks utilizing fiber as a major component, including non-functional, 2D, 3D, fine art, and fine craft in fiber including mixed media works, in a variety of styles, co-curated by gallery manager Amanda Bradley and exhibition juror, Ryan Lytle.”
Kudos to Amanda for hanging my piece, “Before the Fall”  in such a great way!

I am honored to be honorably mentioned!

Congratulations to our award winners:
Honorable Mentions
Debra Disman from Los Angeles, CA for her fiber art sculptural book, Before the Fall.
Statement: Inspired by the book, my work has evolved into a focused material exploration driven by a visceral relationship with cloth, thread, cord and string. I engage the actions of folding, stitching, tearing, cutting and gluing in a continual effort to build and create, tear and break down, heal and repair, as a way of navigating the tension of opposites. While referencing the book as structure, the work has moved progressively into other conceptual realms where devotion to material labor and a passion for the haptic become powerful motivators and themes.

See the Live, In-Person AWARDS EVENT HERE!