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Debra Disman

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Solo Show

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

“I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do”, Revisited

November 24, 2023 By Debra Disman

Gene Ogami photographs

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, Exhibitions, Presentations, TEXTILE/FIBER, Women Artists, Work Tagged With: Anahid Oshagan, Ara Oshagan, Books, City of Glendale, Curators Ara Oshagan and  Anahid Oshagan, Exhibition design, Fiber, Fiber Art, Frida Cano, Gallery show, Gallery sow, Gene Ogami, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Glendale Library Arts and Culture, Handmade Books, Mark Henry Samuel, RefectSpaceGallery, Solo Exhibition, Solo Show, Stacie B. London, Textile Art, Textiles

CanvasRebel Interview: “Meet Debra Disman”

July 11, 2023 By Debra Disman

I was honored to be interviewed by CanvasRebel Magazine!

STORIES & INSIGHTS

Meet Debra Disman

Avatar photoSTORIES & INSIGHTSJUNE 22, 2023
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We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Debra Disman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Debra below.

Debra, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have been privileged to do many wonderful and challenging projects over the years, but I would say the two I am most excited about currently are my book, “CONCURRENCIES: Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse: Genius, Trauma and the Creative Imagination”, an exploration through images of the commonalities between the lives and work of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse, published by ReflectSpace Gallery/Glendale Arts and Culture in conjunction with my solo show “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” which was held there in 2023; and “The Center Will Not Hold”, a performance piece done as part of “Swept Away: Love Letter to a Surrogate”, which was a community-oriented artistic project that aimed to create a transcontinental heartbeat across America. With two collaborators, I was one of 65 Los Angeles County artists who presented live performances over Earth Day Weekend 2023 at the Santa Monica State Beach near the Annenberg Community Beach House. It was a fantastic experience, and we hope to further develop the piece!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Born and raised in the Chicago area, the Chicago Art Institute became my second home. I took art classes growing up both in and out of school. In high school, I also started working in community arts as a volunteer and continued this when I went to college at the University of Iowa. I was an art major with a focus on painting but also studied drawing, printmaking, literature and creative writing, and was in the Iowa Undergraduate Writers’ Workshop in Poetry. I have always had a passionate interest in both image and text (“art and writing” as we used to call it!) and their interrelationship, and have sought ways to put them together, as evidenced in the work I do now, which traverses book objects, sculpture, installation and hanging tapestry works.

In college I also studied a year in France, learning the language and traveling extensively, imbibing masterworks, architecture, landscape and craft, which sparked a lifelong love of travel and cultural explorations. I have taught since the very beginning of my career. When I moved to San Francisco after college, I began teaching at the De Young Museum and through their urban outreach program, which has informed my work ever since as a teaching artist for many years in the Bay Area and now across Los Angeles County, engaging diverse communities. Working as both a solo practitioner alone in the studio and in the public sphere of community engagement are interrelated aspects of my practice, and offer a rich life filled with creative challenges and rewards, in which to grow, continue to learn and develop, and thrive.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think it is very important to teach entrepreneurial and business skills including budgeting, financial planning, networking and the ability to source and follow-up on opportunities. Studio space is at a premium, and artists are masters of using what is available! It is critical to provide affordable studio space through city, county, state and federal initiatives and budget allocations, and for government at all levels to recognize that investment in the arts is fundamental to create and maintain a healthy and thriving society.
We must recognize and fight unnecessary gatekeeping and bureaucracy, unproductive and restrictive elitism and status issues and unhealthy competitiveness, hierarchy and internalized pecking orders by providing opportunities to students, emerging, mid-career and established artists in the form of education, exhibitions, presentations and gatherings and support systems.
We must continue to address inequities as regards to race, gender and class which can severely limit opportunities and challenge basic functioning in the art world and world-at-large through civil rights activities, legislation and providing opportunities geared to those disregarded by the system.
There are institutional and organizational efforts being made to combat, mitigate and better these conditions, but it is slow-going, and it remains to be seen whether such efforts will continue and grow or whether they will be revealed to be a trend, momentarily capturing our ever-decreasing attention spans.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I had a San Francisco-based entrepreneurial enterprise for 15 years called ArtiFactory Studio, which provided decorative painting, color consultation, surface design and murals to individuals, organizations and businesses, and I really loved it! I continued to teach at this time, and went through the certificate programs of both the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center in San Francisco and the International Association of Colour Consultants/Designers in San Diego to further develop my skills in those areas. Later, in Los Angeles, I attended the UCLArts and Healing Social and Emotional Arts (SEA) Certificate Program, The Annenberg—Inner-City Arts Professional Development Program and “Creativity” series, and the Cal State Los Angeles/City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs Community Teaching Artist Program to provide resources, information, further skills and support for my teaching. I found gathering with others in learning communities invaluable! Not only for information, but for networking and sharing. I was in Business Network International (BNI) for two years in San Francisco and learned so much being around other professionals in an organized way, and surmounting that learning curve! It really prepared me for the groups I am involved with now. I learned that nothing is that different…all people generally want the same things: kindness, listening, understanding and support.

When I relocated to Los Angeles in 2012, I knew I wanted to recommit to an evolving studio practice and teach in the community. I began proposing bookmaking and other workshops to my local Library, and to my delighted surprise, was able to start teaching almost right away. I had made artists’ books and taught bookmaking in San Francisco, but took the object of the book and the teaching of bookmaking to a whole other level in Los Angeles, which has developed into an ever-widening engagement with materials and multiple formats. There is so much opportunity here in LA if one is ready to work consistently and put oneself out there! By dint of persistent and concentrated effort, I have been able to develop a multi-faceted practice which has allowed me to exhibit my work in galleries, museums, universities and libraries across LA and the US and teach in an array of community settings and institutions. I am honored to be an enthusiastic local artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center, serve as an artist-in-residence for the City of LA Department of Cultural Affairs, and to have received a Santa Monica Artist Fellowship in 2021. As in all things, the reward for work is more work!

Contact Info:

  • Website: https://debradisman.com/
  • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artifactorystudio/
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debra.disman
  • Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debradisman/
  • Other: https://18thstreet.org/artists/debra-disman/

Image Credits
All images: Gene Ogami 2023

Suggest a Story: CanvasRebel is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, New Work, Publications/Interviews, Teaching Artist, TEXTILE/FIBER, Women Artists, Work Tagged With: "I Can't I Won't I Will I Do", Artist Debra Disman, Artist interview, Arts online magazine, CanvasRebel, CanvasRebel: Meet Debra Disman, City of Glendale, Debra Disman, Gene Ogami, Glendale, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Hidden gem, Los Angeles Artists, Online artist interview, Online Magazine, recognition, ReflectSpace, Solo Show

Walking Through “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do”

May 1, 2023 By Debra Disman

Photographer Gene Ogami documented my 2023 solo show, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” at ReflectSpace Gallery in the Glendale Central Library.
The ten images below provide a virtual walk-through of the exhibition, which was, as I shared with the curators, Ara and Anahid Oshagan, a dream come true that I did not even know I had.

Gratitude to them, to Gene, and to so many others who supported this realization.


Walking into the meditative gallery space from the main library.


Catching some of the larger pieces through the vitrine reflections.


Capturing exhibition signage, the “Concurrencies” artists’ book, the two Concurrencies hangings, and “Throes of the Body” in the vitrine.


A favorite corner of the Curators, Installers and myself!


“Three Sisters and Their Mother” on the wall, hanging over the titular work, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” on shelf.


“Finally, and Just For A Minute” suspended. Black on black on black is challenging to photograph.


A shot that manages to include over half the pieces in the show.


Gene was able to present me surrounded and supported by my works.


We were able to employ the hallway to present other works, and enlargements of the images featured in my artists’ book, “Concurrencies”, comparing the lives and works of artists Charlotte Salomon and Eva Hesse.


The Journey Continues.
In gratitude and appreciation.

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, Exhibitions, TEXTILE/FIBER, Women Artists, Work Tagged With: "I Can't I Won't I Will I Do", Anahid Oshagan, Ara Oshagan, Art Gallery, Book as Sculpture, Books, Charlotte Salomon, City of Glendale, Concurrencies, Curators Ara Oshagan and  Anahid Oshagan, Documentary Photography, Eva Hesse, Fiber, Fiber Art, Gene Ogami, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Glendale Library Arts and Culture, Handmade Books, Hanging, Mark Henry Samuel, Poetry Consults, RefectSpaceGallery, ReflectSpace, ReflectSpaceGallery, Sewing, Solo Exhibition, Solo Show, Stitching, Tapestry, Textile Art, Textiles, Tina Demirdjian

DISMAN-tling “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do” at ReflectSpace Gallery!

April 3, 2023 By Debra Disman

It was with  tenderness mixed with pride and appreciation that I DISMAN-tled my solo show, “I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do ” which ran from late January to late March 2023, in the ReflectSpace Gallery in the Glendale Central Library, curated by the inimitable duo, Anahid and Ara Oshagan.


Thank you Tony, for your assistance, climbing those ladders, and using those tools!

A bit of fun with Tina Demirdjian of Poetry Consults.
Thank you Tina for the support on all fronts!

It takes a village…the completion of a job well done! With the incomparable Anahid Oshagan, co-curator of ReflectSpace, and Tina Demirdjian of Poetry Consults.


Posing with the Glendale Gals: Tina and Anahid…


and with the marvelous Maryl Fleisher, Marketing Program Supervisor at Glendale Library, Arts & Culture.

A dream I did  not even know I had…fulfilled.

Thank you…appreciation, and gratitude.

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, BOOKS, Exhibitions, New Work, TEXTILE/FIBER, Women Artists, Work Tagged With: Anahid Oshagan, Ara Oshagan, Books, City of Glendale, Curators Ara Oshagan and  Anahid Oshagan, Fiber, Fiber Art, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Glendale Library Arts and Culture, Handmade Books, Mark Henry Samuel, Poetry Consults, RefectSpaceGallery, ReflectSpace, ReflectSpaceGallery, Solo Exhibition, Solo Show, Textile Art, Textiles, Tina Demirdjian

Be The Change Book Festival: Bookmaking Workshops II

March 6, 2023 By Debra Disman

I was thrilled to lead three bookmaking workshops at the Glendale Central Library as part of Glendale Library Arts and Culture
on Saturday, February 25: 10:00am – 11:00am, 1:00pm – 2:00pm, 3:00pm – 4:00pm

“Make Your Own Books with Debra Disman – Bookmaker and ReflectSpace Gallery exhibiting artist”
Glendale Central Library – ReflectSpace Annex
I worked with families, individuals and groups who learned how to create fun and fabulous handmade books using folding, cutting and gluing techniques.

Presented as part of:

Be the Change Book Festival – Be the Change Series at Glendale Central Library
Held Saturday, February 25: 10:00am – 4:00pm
 A marvelous day-long event which celebrated diverse voices in reading at the Book Festival with author talks, local book vendors, food trucks, DJ, and activities for all ages.

        

Enjoy my solo show and other exhibitions in the Library!
I Can’t I Won’t I Will I Do Exhibition by Debra Disman – ReflectSpace Gallery
Through March 26th!
Glendale Central Library
A solo exhibition featuring Los Angeles-based artist Debra Disman.

Filed Under: ARTISTS, Artists' Books, BOOKS, Presentations, Student Work, Teaching Artist, Women Artists Tagged With: "Make Your Own Books!", Anahid Oshagan, Ara Oshagan, Artists, Be the Change, Be the Change BOok Festival, Book, Book Festival, Bookmakiing Workshops, Bookmaking, Bookmaking at the Public Library, BOOKMAKING WORKSHOP, Books, Books made by Hand, Charlotte Salomon, Community Bookamking Women's History Month, Eva Hesse, Family Bookmaking Workshop, Fiber, Glendale Arts and Culture, Glendale Central Library, Handmade Books, Hands on bookmaking, Installation, Making Books Together, RefectSpaceGallery, Sculpture, Solo Exhibition, Solo Show, Tapestry, Textiles

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