BIOGRAPHY
Deborah is a premier abstract artist who resides in Charleston, SC. Her work is included in private and corporate collections across the United States and Europe.
Deborah works with oil paints, charcoals, and clay, and loves the way they can be manipulated and moved. Each stroke of the brush is dictated by the one just before it. For her, creating art is all about the process, the color, the form, and the materials. All of these create a challenge that is exciting for her. Her work is non-representational, so if you see a face, a landscape, a flower or some other object, it is not because she painted it there, it is all about what you are seeing.
Her work is about seeing things differently. She believes that to love art is about learning to see. Frank Stella, when asked the meaning of his work, would frequently reply that it was only what you see. This is her philosophy. Deborah believes that each viewer should have a personal experience with art that is unlike anyone else’s. It should be visually pleasing, happy, or even disturbing, but not empty.
She currently incorporates Artificial Intelligence into her work by uploading hundreds of images of her own work into neural networks, which then may take several hours to pick apart those images and then reconstruct them into new images. She then reinterprets those again into a new painting, thus blending traditional painting methods with new age digital imaging.
CV
Education
B. A. Studio Art with distinction
College of Charleston, SC
Recognition
2021 – Top 60 Masters, NYC
2023 – Leonardo Da Vinci Contemporary Artist Award, Milan, Italy
2023 -International Pegasus for the Arts Award, & Protagonists of Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy
2023 – Michaelangelo The Genius of Italy Award, Rome, Italy
2023 – Career Art Award, Sanremo, Italy
Exhibitions
2023 – ADC Gallery, ‘Art Comes Alive’, Cincinnati, Ohio
2023 -Galeria Azur, ‘Act I”, Miami
2022 -Galeria Azur, Miami
2021- Hill Gallery in the College of Charleston
2021 – “Young Contemporaries” – Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art
2018- Group Exhibition of 4 Artists- El Duende- Ottovolarte Gallery – Florence, Italy
2018 Group Exhibition- Brush Strokes- Art Mecca
2017 Group Exhibition – Young Contemporaries – Halsey Institute of Fine Art at the College of Charleston
2016 Solo Exhibition – Art Mecca of Charleston
2015 “Pieces of Me” – Solo exhibition, Charleston
Artist Guild Gallery
2014 Gallery 72 Pop Up group exhibit at the
Lowland Brewery
2013 ‘Let the Music Play’ – Featured Artist exhibit
at the Charleston Artist Guild Gallery
2012 Featured Artist at the Charleston Artist
Guild Gallery
2011 Solo exhibit at the Flagship Gallery
2011 ‘Show of Strength’ – Group exhibit at the
Real Estate Studio
2010 Charleston Artist Guild Gallery
2010 Paintings on exhibit in the Set design of “Little Red Wagon” Major Motion Film
2010 Piccolo Spoleto Juried Indoor Exhibit (only 65 chosen out of 272 entries)
2009 North Charleston Arts Festival Group Exhibit
2009 Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibit Group Exhibit (65 artists chosen out of 300 entries)
Charleston Visitors center
2008 “Vanishing Landscapes” Charleston City Gallery Group Exhibit
Piccolo Spoleto/Coastal Conservation League Juried Exhibit (62 artists chose from 275 entries)
2008 “Jail House Art” Charleston Historic Jail House Group Exhibit
2007 Charleston Artist Guild Signature Show Group Exhibit
2007 Charleston Art and Portraits Gallery
Eye Level Art Gallery
2006 “Hallelujah” Charleston Art and Portrait Gallery Group Exhibit
“Jail House Art” Charleston Historic Jail House Group Exhibit
STATEMENT
I am captivated by the dynamic nature of materials. The way charcoal glides across paper, the fluid movement of oil paint on canvas, and the tactile sensation of clay in my hands all fuel my creative process. I do not plan my works in detail; each piece evolves organically, dictated by the strokes and forms that come before it. My focus lies in the process, the interplay of colors, the exploration of forms, and, most importantly, the materials themselves. Experimentation with new materials and techniques continuously challenges and inspires me.
My art is about seeing the world through a different lens and experiencing the exhilaration of complete freedom. As Paul Klee once said, “Art is not about reproducing something that is already visible but rather making it visible.” Similarly, Frank Stella’s assertion that “what you see is what it is” resonates with my approach. I aim for viewers to experience my art in their own unique way, making it a personal and varied journey for each individual. Whether the experience is visually pleasing, joyful, or even unsettling, it should never be empty.
One memorable moment occurred when a gentleman at an exhibit asked me about the essence of my work. When I turned the question back to him, he responded with a single word: “Chaos!” In that instant, I knew he truly understood my art. My recent work embraces this concept fully, integrating AI technology to feed hundreds of images into neural networks. The AI generates new interpretations, which I then paint and reinterpret, resulting in an adventure of unprecedented creativity. The outcome is a celebration of chaos, reflecting the world we live in and our need to find harmony within it.
