Debra Disman

Artist

  •

Luciana Abait

SANCTUARY: Know Safe Space at 18th Street Arts Center 2025

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Hello World.
Welcome to Sanctuary.
How are you doing today?


“Sanctuary” / Know Safe Space expand upon my 2023 piece, K no W Safe Place with the addition of a hanging roof surrounded by an inverted “forest” of knotted colored cords hung from the ceiling in various arrangements allowing pathways to the suspended black sanctuary space. The installation will grow and change over time with the addition of these hanging elements.

Sanctuary: Know Safe Space, 2025, 10′ x 48″ x 48″, canvas, netting, burlap, cord, lace, ribbon, paint, wood

This installation draws upon my ongoing study of the groundbreaking practices of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse using artmaking to transcend trauma; research into sanctuary movements and spaces and the use of textiles within these; exploration of the“quipu/khipu”, a record-keeping device made of knotted cords of assorted colors used in various cultures in the central Andes of South America; and investigation into the work of artists who have used fiber-based materials to create environments, structures and shelters including Do Ho Suh, Chiharu Shiota and Tracey Emin.

I will also engage in dialogue with others inside the Sanctuary space, informally videotaping these participants’ response to the installation and their immersion in it, as well as offering “interviewees’ the opportunity to share about their own practices, projects and practices, especially as they relate to 18th Street Arts Center. These short-form videos will serve as an informal archive of our present moment, the role of the creative process in it, and the support and sanctuary 18th Street Arts Center is offering to the community by allowing us to Know Safe Space. If You would like to be interviewed/dialogue in the Sanctuary please contact me at  debra@artifactorystudio.com

Video Interview with fellow 18th Street Artist in Residence Luciana Abait
https://www.lucianaabait.com/
@lucianaabait
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnlPJaaeuB8

Video Interview with Los Angeles-based Artist, Curator, Educator, Costume and Set Designer Snezana Saraswati Petrovic https://www.snezanapetrovic.net/
@saraswatioblak
https://youtu.be/ZCfAOdw27xk


And May You Know Safe Space…

BRAND 53 Celebrates PAPER in its many forms

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I am thrilled to have my artists’ book, “THIN ICE” made in collaboration with artist Luciana Abait, shown in Brand 53: Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper

Opening Date: July 19, 2025
Closing Date: September 12, 2025

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California hosts its 53rd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper this summer. All works in the show are on view in the beautiful Brand Library’s Gallery and in both printed and online exhibition catalogs. 

This year’s juror, Sigrid Burton, considers color and drawing as the foundation of her artistic practice and is noted for her works in oil on canvas or linen and mixed media on paper. She explores the natural world both literally and figuratively, with the intention of making light and depth tangible and visible on a two-dimensional picture plane. Burton captures the phenomenological occurrence of reflection and refraction of light, in particular, water, sky and deep space. Her studies of the art of the Indian subcontinent and its ancient and sophisticated aesthetic theory have influenced her thinking that the importance of a work of art is the response that the work evokes from the viewer. Within this context, color is understood to have great expressive and communicative power.

The Brand Associates is offering a printed exhibition catalog for purchase at Brand Library & Art Center.
A digital version of the catalog is also available to download for free.

View the Online CATALOG HERE!
Please see a video of show HERE with a talk by Juror Sigrid Burton

Craft Contemporary 2025 GALA

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Some moments of the 2025 Craft Contemporary GALA!
For Your Viewing Pleasure!

Before, in the courtyard

The auction room second floor gallery, our piece, “drift” (myself and Luciana Abait)

      

Carrie’s piece

Ahree’ piece

Rosie

Alma

David

Frida’s husband Mick  (in my Monm’s vest!) (Luis behind)

Andres

Auction

Alba


Liberty and Jay Worth, Victoria May in mask

EXHIBITIONISTA: BRAND 53: National Juried Show of Works on Paper

By

I am thrilled to have my artists’ book, “THIN ICE” made in collaboration with artist Luciana Abait, shown in Brand 53: Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper   

Opening Date: July 19, 2025 

The Associates of Brand Library & Art Center in Glendale, California host its 53rd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper this summer. All works in the show will be on view in the beautiful Brand Library’s Gallery and in both printed and online exhibition catalogs. 

This year’s juror, Sigrid Burton, considers color and drawing as the foundation of her artistic practice and is noted for her works in oil on canvas or linen and mixed media on paper. She explores the natural world both literally and figuratively, with the intention of making light and depth tangible and visible on a two-dimensional picture plane. Burton captures the phenomenological occurrence of reflection and refraction of light, in particular, water, sky and deep space. Her studies of the art of the Indian subcontinent and its ancient and sophisticated aesthetic theory have influenced her thinking that the importance of a work of art is the response that the work evokes from the viewer. Within this context, color is understood to have great expressive and communicative power.

The Brand Associates will be offering a printed exhibition catalog for purchase at Brand Library & Art Center.
A digital version of the catalog is also available to download for free.

View the Online CATALOG HERE!
Please see a video of show HERE with a talk by Juror Sigrid Burton
​​

Open Studios October 20th at 18th Street Arts Center!

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Join us to attend 18th Street Art Center‘s  Change the Future event and Artist Open Studios on Sunday, October 20th from 3-7 PM.
I am thrilled to open my studio and participate!

Olympic Campus: Artist Open Studios
Sunday, October 20 | 3-7 PM
18th Street Arts Center Olympic Campus
1639 18th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Free + Open to the Public

The artists at 18th Street Arts Center Olympic Campus are opening their studios to the public on Sunday, October 20th from 3 to 7 PM as part of our Change the Future event.

Participating Artists: David McDonald, Diana Taylor, Anne Krinsky, Debra Disman, Dan Wang, Ara Oshagan, Labkhand Olfatmanesh, Luciana Abait, Les Guthman, Susan Kleinberg and Yvette Gellis

Sign up below (as part of our Change the Future event) to RSVP and receive automatic reminders about this event! Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required to attend.

18th Street Arts Center Logo
We’re just over two weeks away from our Change the Future event including Artist Open Studios on Sunday, October 20th from 3-7 PM.

This all-ages event blends creativity, technology and environmental action. Explore interactive installations, fly a giant augmented reality kite over Santa Monica, participate in hands-on workshops, and tour artist studios, all while discovering ways to protect our planet.

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. ALL AGES WELCOME!
I’ll Be There!

A Peek Inside: 
Anne Krinsky combines painting, print, photography and video with archival and geographical research. She is fascinated by the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of the physical world. Since 2018, she has been working on an international project about vulnerable wetlands and climate change.
Diana Taylor works across painting, textiles and print media, exploring notions of time, loss and ruin in visual culture. Recurring motifs that reflect her interests are appropriated from museum catalogues, architectural reference books, craft kits, botanical guides, books on geology, ancient ruins, domestic patterns and other print ephemera.
David McDonald works in both sculpture and painting. The visual qualities of his work vary, but they are connected through a belief in process and intuition as a way of developing work. He believes all things in the natural world are interdependent, and creates situations within his work where this is true.
Debra Disman is a Los Angeles-based artist known for her work inspired by the book, which traverses textiles, installation, sculpture and performance to push the familiar into forms that arrest and baffle, while simultaneously offering places of contemplation and solace.

 

 

 

 

 

Open Studios October 20th at 18th Street Arts Center!

By

18th Street Arts Center Logo
We’re just over two weeks away from our Change the Future event including Artist Open Studios on Sunday, October 20th from 3-7 PM.

This all-ages event blends creativity, technology and environmental action. Explore interactive installations, fly a giant augmented reality kite over Santa Monica, participate in hands-on workshops, and tour artist studios, all while discovering ways to protect our planet.

FREE & OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. ALL AGES WELCOME!
I’ll Be There!

A Peek Inside: 
Anne Krinsky combines painting, print, photography and video with archival and geographical research. She is fascinated by the passage of time and the ephemeral nature of the physical world. Since 2018, she has been working on an international project about vulnerable wetlands and climate change.
Diana Taylor works across painting, textiles and print media, exploring notions of time, loss and ruin in visual culture. Recurring motifs that reflect her interests are appropriated from museum catalogues, architectural reference books, craft kits, botanical guides, books on geology, ancient ruins, domestic patterns and other print ephemera.
David McDonald works in both sculpture and painting. The visual qualities of his work vary, but they are connected through a belief in process and intuition as a way of developing work. He believes all things in the natural world are interdependent, and creates situations within his work where this is true.
Debra Disman is a Los Angeles-based artist known for her work inspired by the book, which traverses textiles, installation, sculpture and performance to push the familiar into forms that arrest and baffle, while simultaneously offering places of contemplation and solace. 
RSVP TODAY!

On View

An Earth Twin at the Digital Dawn: Tom Van Sant’s GeoSphere Project
September 7, 2024-February 1, 2025

18th Street Arts Center
1639 18th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Gallery Hours:
Wed-Sat: 12 PM-5 PM

LEARN MORE >>
18th Street Arts Center is Southern California’s largest artist residency program. Our mission is to provoke public dialogue through contemporary art-making. We value art-making as an essential component of a vibrant, just, and healthy society where the creative process is just as important as the outcome.
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