Debra Disman

Artist

Materiality

CONCURRENCIES: Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: The Visitors

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On June 25th, 2022 I held an open studio to share works created for my 2021-22 Santa Monica Artist Project Fellowship:

Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Invention of New Forms of Visual Art in Response to the Holocaust

Employing research, artistic production, public engagement, the project investigates, compares and links the lives and the groundbreaking work of Jewish women artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse on the basis of their shared experience of trauma and loss through the Jewish Holocaust, the remarkably similar intimate traumas of their families (both lost their mothers to suicide), their invention of new forms of visual art through which I posit they respond to and attempt to cope with these traumas,  their early deaths, and the emotional involvement of each with a charismatic and powerful male artist who proved to be influential, even pivotal in the development of their work and artistic/creative breakthroughs.

Themes of the project include being a woman artist, being a Jewish women artist, being an artist during or affected by a profoundly turbulent time in history, the relationship between internal and external turbulence and the creative act and the transformative power of the creative process:  the triumph of the imagination as opposed to the triumph of the will.

On a broader scale, the project examines, through these two geniuses, ways in which the creative process can transform traumatic pasts, and how trauma can elicit the creation of new forms, voices and materials that outlast their makers and continue to reverberate throughout the ages, inspiring posterity.

As part of my Fellowship project commitment, I created a series of works responding to these artists: their oeuvre, their lives, their concurrencies. I was thrilled to welcome friends, colleagues and students to share the works and say hello!  (All images by Steve Hankins Photography)

 




Thank you all, and thank you Steve Hankins, for your beautiful photography and capturing of the event.

CONCURRENCIES: Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: The Works

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On June 25th, 2022 I held an open studio to share works created for my 2021-22 Santa Monica Artist Project Fellowship:

Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Invention of New Forms of Visual Art in Response to the Holocaust

Employing research, artistic production, public engagement, the project investigates, compares and links the lives and the groundbreaking work of Jewish women artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse on the basis of their shared experience of trauma and loss through the Jewish Holocaust, the remarkably similar intimate traumas of their families (both lost their mothers to suicide), their invention of new forms of visual art through which I posit they respond to and attempt to cope with these traumas,  their early deaths, and the emotional involvement of each with a charismatic and powerful male artist who proved to be influential, even pivotal in the development of their work and artistic/creative breakthroughs.

Themes of the project include being a woman artist, being a Jewish women artist, being an artist during or affected by a profoundly turbulent time in history, the relationship between internal and external turbulence and the creative act and the transformative power of the creative process:  the triumph of the imagination as opposed to the triumph of the will.

On a broader scale, the project examines, through these two geniuses, ways in which the creative process can transform traumatic pasts, and how trauma can elicit the creation of new forms, voices and materials that outlast their makers and continue to reverberate throughout the ages, inspiring posterity.

As part of my Fellowship project commitment, I created a series of works responding to these artists: their oeuvre, their lives, their concurrencies, some of which I share here: (All images by Steve Hankins Photography)

Working title: “Concurrencies I“, 2022, repurposed denim, linen thread, gold thread, hemp cord, varnish


Working title: “Concurrencies II“, begun, 2022 (unfinished), repurposed denim, linen thread, gold thread, varnish , to be developed


Working title, “Finally“, 2022, canvas, burlap, acrylic paint, hemp cord


Working title, “Finally“, 2022, canvas, burlap, acrylic paint, hemp cord, (details)


“I Can’t I Won’t I will I Do“, 2022, repurposed cotton table runner, hemp cord, acrylic paint


“It’s Not Black and White“, 2021, Bookboard, mulberry paper, repurposed typewriter tape, canvas, hemp cord, (exterior)


“It’s Not Black and White“, 2021, Bookboard, mulberry paper, repurposed typewriter tape, canvas, hemp cord, (exterior/interior)


“Forest Through The Trees“, 2021, bookboard, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, wood, canvas, repurposed typewriter tape, lace, (exterior)


“Forest Through The Trees“, 2021, bookboard, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, wood, canvas, repurposed typewriter tape, lace, (detail)


Working title: “Charlotte Salomon-Eva Hesse: Concurrencies“, 2022, repurposed family album, burlap, linen thread, collage/paper,  (exterior)

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

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!

Sharing the words of Juri Koll

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I am honored to share the words of the artist, curator, filmmaker and fonder/director of Venice Institute of Contemporary Art, Juri Koll:

Thank you Juri, for your time, your care, and your comprehension of my work.

It means a great deal.

The Fine Art of Denim

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I am excited to be included in the wild and wonderful show, The Fine Art of Denim, Pollak Gallery, Monmouth University Center for the Arts, W. Long Branch, NJ, Juror: Vincent DiMattio  2021

at Monmouth University Center for the Arts Pollak Gallery
running from June 17 to August 14 , 2021.

It is a fascinating show, showing the emotive, expressive and visceral qualities of denim as a material, and its rich potential and capacity to communicate a range of human experiences, ideas, passions and concepts.

I am honored to be showing two works from my “Reading Color” series which are artists’ books featuring denim as the primary material:

Reading Color Reading Color I, 8.75 x 13.25 x 6.25″, mixed media/artists’ book (denim, acrylic paint, board, hemp cord)

Reading Color VI, 7.5 x 17 x 8″, mixed media/artists’ book  (denim, acrylic paint, metal, hemp cord, board, paper)

“Denim, with all its symbols and dualities, is a common item of clothing that unites many around the globe. Dad Jeans, skinny jeans, low riders, bell bottoms, boot leg, wide leg, no leg, 501s, 504s, button fly, stretch jeans, the American dress code writ large across centuries. With so many styles available and ways to accessorize/manipulate the fabric, denim has historically allowed for a freedom of expression representing both individuality and shifts in cultural movements. Denim comes in a wide range of blues and other colors, washes, fades and textures making it a perfect, but not obvious, medium to create fine artwork. Join us now, for a re-imagining of the meaning of denim. Denim that was discarded can open up a new way of looking, a startling way of seeing past the everyday. What we have abandoned, will be presented again, re-purposed from the lives we lived, to moments we experience together “forever in blue jeans.”

Monmouth University’s Center for the Art is exhibiting the work of artists  who use recycled denim in new and creative ways in paintings, sculpture, collages, small constructions and wall hangings, etc. from June 17 – August 14 , 2021 in the Pollak Gallery. Works shown use denim as the principal medium of the piece and the fabric are reconstructed from its original form in some way. “

See The Show Here!