About Deborah and her work

Originally having trained as a painter in the use of observational methods, I then moved toward making large scale paintings using processes of abstraction rooted in abstract Expressionism (i.e. unconscious as opposed rational/conscious decision making, and response to materials through the body/gesture). My aim was to create personal works that reflected inner states of being. Whilst studying on the Independent Masters program at University of Plymouth I became increasingly convinced that a kind of 'editing' occurred whilst I painted, causing me to filter out the 'feminine'. I began to look for strategies through which my subjectivity as a woman could be recovered during the act of painting which I conceived of as (in Judith Butler's sense) perfomative. The attempt to do this became the basis of PhD research entitled The Materiality of Text and Body: An Investigation Though Painting and Darkroom Processes, completed in 2003.

Examples from each of the three discrete bodies of work produced during this research period are shown in the Gallery. The first, Inscriptions, explores the relation between visual processes and textual ideas. The second Screen/Paintings, is a re-enactment of formalist decisions that attempts to recover the body in the work. the third, Photoworks, is an attempt to ‘jam’ vision whilst redirecting process through the unconscious and touch.

I have taught art and theory on undergraduate and post graduate courses in the UK and America . During 1996/7 I was a resident artist at California State University , Longbeach, more recently I have been involved in a collaborative project (Littoral) involving British and German Artist. My work has been exhibited in the UK , America and Germany . I currently teach painting/critical theory at University of Plymouth in the School of Arts and Performance.

 Inscription 1

 Inscription 2

 Inscription 3

 Screen Image 1

 Screen Image 2

 Screen Image 3

 Photoworks 1

 Photoworks 2