ARTIST STATEMENT
I use textiles to explore sexuality/sensuality, gender fluidity, procreation, and transformation in both personal and political contexts.
My primary medium is dyed silk, which can portray weight beyond it’s ephemeral nature, convey multiple perspectives through its translucent properties, and embody inherent contrasts in subject matter.
My work is often a response to current events and to contemporary perspectives of younger generations. Much of my impetus derives from having my formative years in the 1960s as well as having been brought up in the household of artists and poets.
I left high school my senior year and matriculated from the American High School in Mexico City, teaching and practicing art in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende, a deeply enriching experience. I studied dance theater in New York with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis. I did not attend college until I was in my 30s, majoring in art, music, and education. I taught in public schools for twenty years, and in a variety of recreational venues.
I have always worked intuitively, but am excited to enter a gradual expansion beyond the confines of ideas toward a more abstract visual expression of the fabric itself.
© Deborah Hirshfield