Deborah Stevenson

My paintings -

I've been a painter for over 30 years. My work reflects my interest in the 'geometry' and balance in the world around us, as observed in the quotidian views of skies framed by power poles, phone lines, edges of buildings at twilight, etc.  I love trying to capture the element of time affecting space;  the views change constantly as one moves through the environment, with one's eyes looking upward at the swirling skies.... I paint in oil. I love the physicality of the medium: it is smelly, it is sensual - it is fast, and it is slow.

My collages - 

I began working in paper collage in 2010. I mix classical with commercial/quotidian imagery, with the intent of creating provocative juxtapositions exploring concepts of power, the Feminine, and the mysterious. The process of making these pieces is completely different from painting, though equally labor-intensive.  Whereas my paintings are derived from what I've actually observed, the collage pieces arise in an "automatic" way, presenting themselves spontaneously as I mix and move the pictures around on the table in front of me.  There is no specific "goal" or intent when I begin - it's more as though I am letting the images find each other, and facilitating their communion when they "speak" to each other.  More than anything else, the process requires of me that I pay attention, so as to be ready to capture the dialogue.

When I broke my wrist in late 2010, and was temporarily unable to cut and construct the paper collages, I found a new creative outlet in making panorama photo-collage pieces using my iphone.  The pieces are composed entirely "in situ." That is to say, I shoot in the sequence that you see.  These are not individual photos that are pieced together after the fact on the computer or in a program like Photoshop.  The app I use on my iphone knits the images as I capture them.  Again, as with the paper collages, there is a strong element of chance and serendipity at work in making these.  Similarly, it is incumbent on me to stay alert and attuned to where I am and what I'm seeing, so as to best capture the moment before it is gone. As much as anything, they represent a visual diary of what interests me as I live each day.

The kinetic sculpture - 

In 2009, I began exploring 3-D work, constructing hanging pieces from telecom wire and plaster embellishments. This avenue opened up completely spontaneously to me, and I quickly became captivated with making these pieces. When I paint, I know pretty much what I'm going to try to get up on to the canvas when I start. But with these mobiles, it was a completely different story.  They tell me -- I just sort of hang out and put them together by instinct.  It's almost meditative, building these pieces.  They're very labor-intensive, and require me to be very focused and very deft in my handling.  They're very very light, weighing almost nothing. I have been suspending them all around my studio, where they catch the ambient motion in the room, and move gently.  To me, they suggest the microcosmic and the macrocosmic, the biologic and the cosmologic.  It's a mystery whence the inspiration arises, so I simply call them "Mementos".