Debra Disman

Artist

  •

Sculptural Books

in the BLACK

By

Black and White? (I)

Working in whites and tones of white and white on white…I wanted to see what all BLACK would render.

Here we go…

Black Hang Out, 2017
Book board, canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint

Maximum Security, 2018
Book board, canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, ink, acrylic paint, wood

In the Thicket of It, 2018
Book board, canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, acrylic paint, wood

Night time. Mystery. Enticing. Forbidding. Absolute. Lost. Found. Again.

Continuing.

The Book as Art v6.0: Pulp

By

I am honored to have two pieces in this upcoming exhibition:

The Book as Art v6.0: Pulp
the Book As Art 2018
August 10–September 28 | open during library hours
The Periodicals Gallery of the Decatur Library
215 Sycamore St., Decatur, Ga.

Artist books take many forms – from handmade and lusciously tactile to linear and informative, abstract and questioning to sculptural and monumental. This juried show celebrates the book with a wildly varied collection of inventive and spectacular work that challenges expectations.

This is an exhibition that has been described by critics as, “wildly eclectic” and finding “. . . new and often startling ways to reimagine not just the physical format of a book but also the ideological essence of the content.” (ArtsATL, “Year in Review,” Dec. 31, 2014); approaching “sheer aesthetic magic” (Jerry Cullum, ArtsATL, “Books Become Magical Objects, Aug. 28, 2013); and with examples that “. . .push boundaries and challenge expectations in ways that are both startling and exhilarating.” (Jeff Stafford, Burnaway, “Art as Books, Books as Art,” Aug. 25, 2014)

NEW WORKS Show at 1450 Ocean

By

NEW WORKS Show at 1450 Ocean

April 14, 2018.

Textile artist Huong Nguyen and I shared our work with the Public at the Camera Obscura Art Lab at 1450 Ocean in Santa Monica.

It was a wonderful round-up of our Studio Residency activities which took place January through April, 2018.

This post is a “send-off” of sorts to the Residency, which had a profound impact upon me, my work, and Life. Thank you, 1450 Ocean….

A tour around the Studio, as we prepare for our Show.

The spaciousness of space…tables for materials, and visual reminders, inspirations and cues.


The “spinning book” moved around.


Beautiful light off the Ocean flooded the glassed-in Studio.


I finished, if there is such a thing, filling my “sketch” book here.


“Rapunzel“, Book board,  mulberry paper, linen thread, gold thread, untreated canvas; “Window Treatment“, Book board,  file folders, hemp cord, watercolor paper, mulberry paper, acrylic paint, waxes.


“The Fall“, Board, untreated canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, mulberry paper.


“Throes of the Body“, Book board, untreated canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, mulberry paper.


“In the Profusion“, Book board, untreated canvas, hemp cord, watercolor paper, mulberry paper.


“Burning Bush“, Board, thread, linen thread, dental floss, mulberry paper.


“BedTime Story I”, Book board, wood, fabric, hemp cord, watercolor paper, incorporating tiny ceramic “masks, made by my Mom, the ceramicist Judy Disman.
Mom, it was great to work with you.

Pathways to the next Thing.
We are Travelers.

 

 

 

 

 

In Resonant Residence (14)

By

In Resonant Residence (14)

I formally began Studio Residency at the Camera Obscura Art Lab

in Santa Monica Wednesday January 10th, and completed it Saturday, April 21, 2018.  I shared the sunlit space, located within a beautiful Mid-century building overlooking Palisades Park, Santa Monica Beach and the blue Pacific with textile artist and fellow Studio Artist-in-Residence Huong Nguyen.
“About the Art Lab and Camera Obscura

1450 Exterior
Vintage Camera Obscura
 
 
 
 
Step inside the Camera Obscura Art Lab and you’ll find a welcoming space with fantastic views of Santa Monica Bay and the Pier. The Camera is located in a midcentury time capsule in Palisades Park between Broadway and Santa Monica Blvd on what was once the site of the Pacific Electric Railway’s North Beach Station. Designed by noted architect Weldon J. Fulton (who’s work can be found around town including the classic Camera Obscura sign and font, the Montana and Fairview branch libraries, and the former Zucky’s building on Wilshire Blvd), the building’s exterior features walls clad in chunky Palos Verdes stone, glass walls, sloping roofs, and projecting canopies and rafter beams. It was donated to the City of Santa Monica by Marcellus Joslyn in 1955.”

The huge studio windows look out on palms, walkways and a huge assortment of passers by, strollers, park wanderers and beach combers. The Studio is a magical place to work.

My thirteenth workshop, April 7, 2018, Creating Sculptural Books offered participants an opportunity to walk a bit on the wilder side, and create something new while learning some skills in the process.

We began by constructing what I call the “fan book” structure…an accordion folded spine, with front and back covers, and pages added to the same side of each fold.

It is a version of the flag book, invented by renowned book artist Hedi Kyle, but employs full-sized pages that fan out from the spine in the same direction, rather then the zig zig alternating pattern of the endlessly inventive flag book.

Then folks added to that structure, used it as a jumping off point if you will.

Others focused more specifically on embellishment…this was the way “in” for them.

Book artist Rachel Curry made a big “traditional” flag book, and adorned it with patterns using paint pens.

Step-by-step into new territory, in a safe space.

Ingredients for discovery.

“FORMATION”: The Guild of Book Workers 2018-2019 Traveling Juried Exhibition

By

“FORMATION”: The Guild of Book Workers 2018-2019 Traveling Juried Exhibition

I am extremely honored to have two pieces in FORMATION, The Guild of Book Workers 2018-2019 traveling juried exhibition, with a theme evoking a wide array of interpretations.

Simply defined by Merriam Webster as “an act of giving form or shape to something,” ‘formation‘ can insinuate process, history, creation, change, beginnings, an arrangement, botany and landscape, personal narratives and impersonal storytelling. As artists, designers and craftspeople with our own histories that form us, we also play a vital role in the formation of objects and experiences; pulp molded into paper, paper folded into books, books shelved into a library.

What is the final product, if not for the methods used to create it? What makes us into the artists we are? What pushes us to continue to create?

Exhibition Schedule:

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minneapolis, MN
June 15–October 21, 2018

Robert C. Williams Papermaking Museum
Atlanta, GA
November 1, 2018–March 7, 2019

University of California, Los Angeles
Charles E. Young Research Library Lobby Gallery
Los Angeles, CA
March 15–May 25, 2019

North Bennet Street School
Boston, MA
June 5–July 27, 2019

University of the Arts
Philadelphia, PA
August 1–October 30, 2019

Debra Disman and Huong Nguyen: New Works

By

Debra Disman and Huong Nguyen: New Works

 

Join us for the culminating exhibition of studio residents Debra Disman and Huong Nguyen, showing new works in fabric and paper. Debra Disman and Huong Nguyen are sharing the Camera Obscura Art Lab Studio space during their simultaneous residency, which spans January 10 to April 18, 2018.