OFFICIAL OPENING I SATURDAY the 25th of JANUARY, 4pm till 6pm
SHOWING DATES I SATURDAY the 25th of JANUARY till WEDNESDAY the 12th of JANUARY, 2025
About Deborah....
I am a visual artist, anthropologist, and author who has been living happily in Maitland since 2013. I completed studio-based art training with a postgraduate certificate in painting at Hornsby TAFE (1985-1990), and went on to study art history, philosophy, and anthropology before gaining a PhD in Anthropology (University of Newcastle) in 2004. I have specialisations in Papua New Guinea and the Anthropology of Religion and was Senior Lecturer in the Anthropology Dept at Macquarie University until 2017 when I returned fulltime to my creative practice.
My work is predominantly figurative, grounded in the modernist tradition of oil paint on
canvas, with the occasional incorporation of collage and mixed media treatments. My early influences were the Australian figurative painters such as Nolan, Tucker, and Boyd. I also admire the Russian artist, Marc Chagall (an influence also evident in much of Boyd’s and Nolan’s work). My imagery leans towards expressionism with evocative, psychological moods that often suggest a dream state.
Artist's Statement....
The Human Story represents the intersection of two themes that have occupied my work in recent years. One is Patrick White’s epic Australian novels and the other is poetic or oneiric imagery. White was interested in the human condition; the struggle for life and meaning against the inevitability of death. His early work used strong biblical themes, but his characters and settings were distinctly Australian. The Tree of Man (1955) was once described as an Australian Book of Genesis, and the main character in Voss (1957) is often described as a messiah-like figure. My admiration for these novels converges here with my interest in religious art, whilst shifting the emphasis from the male protagonists to female ones. Laura Trevelyan, Voss’s spiritual bride-to-be, has emerged as a rich source of inspiration for the women in my paintings.
White’s later novel The Vivisector (1970) was dedicated to Sidney Nolan and it has been
suggested that the artist at the centre of the story is based on Nolan. The book is more likely a study of the author/creator himself and his struggle with the shifting/transforming nature of human relationships and personal identity; expressed, denied, displayed, ambiguous or sometimes hidden. The Vivisector opens with an epigraph from Ben Nicholson “…painting and religious experience are the same thing, and what we are all searching for is the understanding and realization of infinity.” Perhaps that is all that needs to be said.