Debra Disman

Artist

  •

Space

Seeking Sanctuary: Installation Process 2

By

Debra Disman: “Sanctuary” / Know Safe Space

November 14, 2025 – January 3, 2026
Atrium Gallery
18th Street Arts Center

“Sanctuary: Know Safe Space” expands upon Disman’s 2023 piece, “K no W Safe Place” with the addition of a hanging roof surrounded by an inverted “forest” of knotted colored cords added to and developing over time, hung from the ceiling in various arrangements allowing pathways to the suspended black sanctuary space. The installation grew  and changed over time with the addition of these hanging elements, to be shared in further PROCESS posts.

This installation draws upon Disman’s 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, as well as drawing inspiration from artists Maria Lai and Liza Lou.

Disman also engaged in dialogue with others inside the Sanctuary space, informally videotaping 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 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.

Informal documentation of the process of creating “Sanctuary: Know Safe Space” at 18th Street Arts Center, November 2025 – January 2026.


SANCTUARY: Know Safe Space facing into open space


Walls behind and on both sides


Walk inside
and stay awhile

 

Deep Dive into “DWELLINGS” at Artlink

By

I am thrilled to be part of a beautiful and timely show, “DWELLINGS” at Artlink, housed in the Auer Center for Arts and Culture in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Learn about and view the show HERE!

I love participating in shows all over the country, and see the extraordinary talent, diversity of media, level of skill and and passion for expression manifesting itself across the United States at all times.  This helps me to feel connection, hope and the sense of belonging to a creative force working to resist cruelty, negativity, smallness and isolationism. Brava to the brave and resilient gallerists, curators, organizations, funders, institutions and artists working tirelessly to support the growth of the human spirit into its most elevated aspirations.

“For the exhibition DWELLINGS, juried Steve Garst, Artlink invited artists to submit works of any media that involve homes, shelters, forts, nests, burrows, or any other forms of inhabited space used by humans or non-humans. Where a creature lays its head can be a place of refuge, sustenance, and identity.  They are cauldrons of growth, filled with love, hurt, anger, learning, and memory.  Often, homes are constructed and, in turn, end up constructing the lives of those who dwell within them, for better or worse.  Artlink is excited to offer an exhibition exploring the variety of human and non-human places that serve as home, in all its numerous manifestations.”

My artists’ book “Window Treatment” is in the show and I am proud to be in such good company.

Please see a video of the SHOW HERE!

 

 

Upcoming Exhibitions 2025

By

I am excited to start off the new year with two exhibitions, and appreciate the opportunity to share and commune with others, near and far.

DWELLINGS: An Exhibition of Inhabited Spaces
January 2 – February 2, 2025 at


I am thrilled to participate in the exhibition: “DWELLINGS: An Exhibition of Inhabited Spaces” at ARTLINK, at the Auer Center for Arts and Culture, Fort Wayne, Indiana. I love to get my work involved in events and shows all across the country and in areas not considered major art centers, and off the edges of the US. I find the commitment and caliber of shows, curators/jurors, artists and work to be audacious and  inspiring on all fronts. “For the exhibition DWELLINGS, juried Steve Garst, Artlink invited artists to submit works of any media that involve homes, shelters, forts, nests, burrows, or any other forms of inhabited space used by humans or non-humans. Where a creature lays its head can be a place of refuge, sustenance, and identity.  They are cauldrons of growth, filled with love, hurt, anger, learning, and memory.  Often, homes are constructed and, in turn, end up constructing the lives of those who dwell within them, for better or worse.  Artlink is excited to offer an exhibition exploring the variety of human and non-human places that serve as home, in all its numerous manifestations.” I am showing “Window Treatment”

Window Treatment, 2018, 13 x 38 x 9.25″, mixed media

VIEW THE SHOW HERE!

and close upon DWELLINGS,

The 2025 LA OPEN, at TAG Gallery in Los Angeles
January 8 – February 24, 2025

I am thrilled to show two works in this fun and fantastic annual show!

The Body Politic: Black and Gold, 2024, 8.5 x 23 x 7″, book board, paint, canvas, metal leaf, lace, cord, netting, trim, beads

Hopes and Fears and…, 2020, 24.5 x 16.25″, textile samples, linen thread

View the SHOW here!

Illustrious JUROR: Genie Davis 
Genie Davis is a writer who loves and writes about art as well as a wide range of other subjects as a journalist, biographer, novelist, and WGA-W screen and television writer. You can see her written work in the arts on her own www.diversionsLA.com as well as in past publications of Artillery, Art & Cake, Art Scene, Fabrik, and Riot Material.
She is the curator of 2023’s Leaving Eden, a two-person thematic exhibition at Keystone Art Space; September 2024’s Thresholds, a small group exhibition at Gallery of Hermosa; and upcoming in March 2025, the international exhibition Windswept at Wonzimer Gallery.

Here’s to meeting and marching into the New Year, with courage, bravery, heart and honesty, as much as we can…

 

EXHIBITIONISTA: “DWELLINGS: An Exhibition of Inhabited Spaces” at ARTLINK

By

I am thrilled to participate in the exhibition: “DWELLINGS: An Exhibition of Inhabited Spaces” at ARTLINK, at the Auer Center for Arts and Culture, Fort Wayne, Indiana. I love to get my work involved in events and shows all across the country, in areas not considered major art centers and off the edges of the US. I find the commitment and caliber of shows, curators/jurors, artists and work to be audacious and  inspiring on all fronts.

“For the exhibition DWELLINGS, juried by Steve Garst,  Artlink invited artists to submit works of any media that involve homes, shelters, forts, nests, burrows, or any other forms of inhabited space used by humans or non-humans. Where a creature lays its head can be a place of refuge, sustenance, and identity.  They are cauldrons of growth, filled with love, hurt, anger, learning, and memory.  Often, homes are constructed and, in turn, end up constructing the lives of those who dwell within them, for better or worse.  Artlink is excited to offer an exhibition exploring the variety of human and non-human places that serve as home, in all its numerous manifestations.” 

I am showing “Window Treatment”

Window Treatment,  2018, 13 x 38 x 9.25″, book board/file folders/file cards/hemp cord, wax