ARTIST STATEMENT
The act of becoming is a meditative process—breath in and breath out, inhale and exhale. My drawings and paintings are the same – a letting go, an unfolding, an intuitive layering and weaving together of thoughts, memories, and visual impressions. I’m curious about where things touch, where one thought ends and another begins, what is left unsaid, the imperfect. Using a mix of media, a layering of materials and gesture, I find beauty in surprising relationships—often improvised or accidental.
My work uses abstracted lines and forms to channel the continuous flow of my personal experience and becomes a celebration of the interconnectivity of all things. Inspiration comes from daily walks. A tangle of vines, cast shadows of flowers, leaves and branches become elements of my abstracted imagery. Cracks in the sidewalk and tar mended pavement speak to me, as do chance and serendipity. These forms translate into a language of my own, expressed in loopy drawing and mixed media assemblage.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Chicago artist Deborah Newmark, earned a BA and a BFA from the University of Illinois. Further study includes drawing, painting, and printmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Oxbow, Lillstreet Gallery, and the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative.
Current exhibitions include Entangled Expressions: Exploring the Labyrinth of Linearity with Victoria Fuller and Spencer Gale at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, July 12- September 14, 2025. Other exhibits include Liminal Space (2024), a two-person show with Bethany Cordero at Oliva Gallery; a solo show at Pour Evanston; Healing Through the Arts at the Zhou B Art Center (curated by Sergio Gomez); Migrations: Black & White 2.0 at the Evanston Art Center (curated by Makeba Kedem-DuBose); In Conversation with Dale Washington at Bridgeport Art Center; the 2023 RView productNDD Fall Gallery Walk; Earth Abundance at Oliva Gallery; Artruckish at Union, Evanston; Words Matter (2021) at The Art Center Highland Park (also curated by Kedem-DuBose); Ephemera: The Power of Impermanence (curated by Victoria Fuller); and the Evanston Made Member Shows at the Evanston Art Center in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Prior to 2020 Newmark was the Creative Director for Skyline Design, an award-winning Chicago-based manufacturer of decorative architectural glass. Newmark’s work hangs in private and public collections including Doubleday, Baker Furniture, The National Bar Association and The Swiss Hotel.
© Deborah Newmark