Description
ARTIST STATEMENT
I use textiles to explore sexuality/sensuality, gender fluidity, procreation, and transformation in both personal and political contexts. My work is reflective of my identity as a woman in a sexist society where I did not experience the same benefits I might have if I had been a man.
I react and respond to current events and to the contemporary perspectives of younger generations to understand diverse viewpoints. Much of my impetus derives from 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, subsequently teaching and practicing art in Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I studied dance theater in New York with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis. I did not attend college until I was in my 30s, and a single parent, majoring in art, music, and education. I subsequently taught in public schools, recreational venues, and Universities.
My primary medium is currently dyed, molded, and sewn silk sculpture, which portrays weight beyond its intrinsic ephemeral nature, conveys multiple perspectives through its translucent properties, and embodies inherent contrasts in subject matter when combined with mixed media.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Deborah Hirshfield established herself as a visual artist at an early age, inspired and motivated by her mother, an artist/activist. She was fascinated by the diversity of faces before she started school, and while in high school, developed an eye toward clothing as disembodied feminine images, later to resurface as a primary focus.
After a multiyear career in the medium of batik, from Evanston IL to Mexico and Israel, she acquired dual teaching certificates in music and art and a masters in multicultural education, educating children and adults for over twenty years. Upon retirement, Deborah began pursuing the integration of textiles with social justice and diversity issues.
Deborah uses dyes, to mold, sew, and embellish textiles in creation of sculptural installations that primarily address inequities. Her work is in private collections and the Illinois State Museum.
© Deborah Hirshfield