Debra Disman

Artist

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Textile Art

“KNOT SORRY” at Not Shockboxx!

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I am thrilled to participate in “Knot Sorry” at Not Shockboxx Gallery!
The “Knot Sorry” exhibition showcases bold fiber art in Los Angeles.
I will be showing for the first time a new work entitled: “Target Practice” which can be presented in multiple ways.

There’s something subversive about softness.
Knot Sorry pulls fiber art out of the polite, domestic corner and into the spotlight where it belongs — bold, labor-intensive, intimate, and impossible to ignore. This exhibition celebrates work made by hand, by time, by tension. Quilts that carry stories. Garments that feel like armor or confession. Threads that bind, unravel, and reassemble meaning.
We’re interested in fiber as both material and message. The slow process. The repetitive act. The history stitched into every surface. And the ways artists are pushing these traditions into something sharper, stranger, more personal.
Bring us the pieces that blur the line between craft and fine art. The ones that feel obsessive. Tender. Unapologetic. Work that holds weight — physically or emotionally — whether it’s stitched, knotted, woven, sewn, or layered into mixed media.
This is about care and control. About labor you can see. About softness that doesn’t ask permission.
No apologies. No minimizing.
Knot Sorry.
@notshockboxx

“FIBER ITERATION” at Textile Art Gallery NYC!

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 I am thrilled to  participate in:
Fiber Iterations
presented at Textile Art Gallery New York!

August 3-28, 2026

Opening Reception August 6, 4-6 pm

Fiber Iterations – Textile Art Gallery NYC  invited artists working in fiber and textile-based practices to submit work celebrating the versatility, innovation, and expressive potential of these mediums. The “Fiber Iterations” show was open to artists exploring traditional and contemporary approaches, including but not limited to weaving, embroidery, quilting, felting, tapestry, soft sculpture, mixed media, and experimental textile processes.

Textile Art Gallery New York is particularly interested in work that pushes the boundaries of fiber art, engages with cultural narratives, or examines materiality, sustainability, identity, and storytelling through textile forms.

Selected works are  featured in this curated exhibition aimed at highlighting the depth and diversity of fiber and textile art today. Artists will have the opportunity to share their work with a broader audience in the Chelsea Arts District and participate in programming related to the exhibition.

Juror: Dutch native Petra Fallaux is a writer, curator and artist based in Pittsburgh, PA

Petra Fallaux remarked that the quality of the submissions was “second to none.” The creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation demonstrated by artists from around the world made this an exceptional pool of work. We extend our sincere thanks to every artist who submitted their work and congratulate those selected for this outstanding exhibition.

295 artists submitted works, making the selection process both exciting and incredibly challenging for our juror. After careful review, 53 artists were selected for the exhibition. I am pleased to be showing:
The Body Politic: Like White on White, 2024, 9 x 16 x 7″, book board, paint, canvas, hemp/assorted cord, trim



EXHIBITIONISTA: “Knot Sorry” at Not Shockboxx Gallery

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I am happy to be participating in “Knot Sorry” at Not Shockboxx Gallery!
I will be showing for the first time a new work entitled: Target Practice which can be presented in multiple ways:

 

Knot Sorry pulls fiber art out of the polite, domestic corner and into the spotlight where it belongs — bold, labor-intensive, intimate, and impossible to ignore. This exhibition celebrates work made by hand, by time, by tension. Quilts that carry stories. Garments that feel like armor or confession. Threads that bind, unravel, and reassemble meaning.

We’re interested in fiber as both material and message. The slow process. The repetitive act. The history stitched into every surface. And the ways artists are pushing these traditions into something sharper, stranger, more personal.

Bring us the pieces that blur the line between craft and fine art. The ones that feel obsessive. Tender. Unapologetic. Work that holds weight — physically or emotionally — whether it’s stitched, knotted, woven, sewn, or layered into mixed media.

This is about care and control. About labor you can see. About softness that doesn’t ask permission.

No apologies. No minimizing.

Knot Sorry.” –Not Shockboxx Gallery

RSVP for the opening

EXHIBITIONISTA: ” FIBER ITERATIONS” at Textile Art Gallery New York

By

 I am thrilled to  participate in:
Fiber Iterations
presented at Textile Art Gallery New York!

August 3-28, 2026

Opening Reception August 6, 4-6 pm

Fiber Iterations – Textile Art Gallery NYC’s annual Juried Show invited all artists working in fiber and textile-based practices to submit work celebrating the versatility, innovation, and expressive potential of these mediums. The Juried Show was open to artists exploring traditional and contemporary approaches, including but not limited to weaving, embroidery, quilting, felting, tapestry, soft sculpture, mixed media, and experimental textile processes.

The gallery is particularly interested in work that pushes the boundaries of fiber art, engages with cultural narratives, or examines materiality, sustainability, identity, and storytelling through textile forms. Both emerging and established artists were encouraged to apply.

Selected works will be featured in this curated exhibition aimed at highlighting the depth and diversity of fiber and textile art today. Artists will have the opportunity to share their work with a broader audience in the Chelsea Arts District and participate in programming related to the exhibition.

Juror: Dutch native Petra Fallaux is a writer, curator and artist based in Pittsburgh, PA

Petra Fallaux remarked that the quality of the submissions was “second to none.” The creativity, craftsmanship, and innovation demonstrated by artists from around the world made this an exceptional pool of work. We extend our sincere thanks to every artist who submitted their work and congratulate those selected for this outstanding exhibition.

295 artists submitted works, making the selection process both exciting and incredibly challenging for our juror. After careful review, 53 artists were selected for the exhibition.

EXHIBITIONISTA: EMBRACING THE CRAFT at CORE Art Space

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I am thrilled to participate in

Fiber Art: Embracing the Craft

September 12 – 28, 2025
at

Fri: 5p – 9p, Sat: 12p – 5p, Sun: 12p – 5p

Core Art Space — 6501 W.Colfax Avenue, Lakewood, CO 80214

Long disparaged in the art world as mere “craft,” fiber art has been enjoying something of a renaissance in the last few years. Artists working with fabric and other fibers, such as Bisa Butler and Alexandra Kehayoglou, have gained international recognition, and the New York Times has declared that “fiber art is finally being taken seriously.” We say, it’s about time! What’s not to love about the beauty, versatility, and luxuriousness of fiber media?

In this show, Core Art Space celebrates the skill, dedication, and ingenuity required to make beautiful art out of fiber materials. We celebrate weavings, quilts, embroideries, beadwork, fiber sculptures, or wearables—all artwork using a foundation of fiber materials and processes (including fabric, yarn, thread, beads, roving, rope, etc.; stitching, weaving, felting, quilting, knotting, wrapping, lacemaking, etc.) is eligible. Both traditional and experimental forms and techniques included.

Juror

Fiber and mixed media artist Susan Dillon explores the physical manifestation of emotions and memories using fabric, thread, yarn, bones and found objects. She creates environments filled with life forms, some familiar and some more otherworldly, which are encrusting surfaces & niches and colonizing their surroundings. Susan has had her work exhibited nationally and has won numerous

awards for her fiber art. Her work is in private collections around the globe. She teaches workshops as well as private lessons on fiber art techniques. Susan lives in Denver, CO with her husband & furry “keeds”. She has her studio at Globeville Riverfront Art Center (GRACe), open by appointment and at special events.

I am showing “PROFUSION”

8.5 x 24.5 x 7.75, book board, mulberry paper, watercolor paper, raw canvas, hemp cord

In Reflection: “Three Sisters And Their Mother” and more

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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.