Statement

In my work I give a glimpse into the world in all its wonder as refracted by one individual. A painting may take weeks, even months to complete, but ultimately it captures a moment in time.

My work has been inspired by nature, as embodied in the figure, landscape, and still life. Dolls, expansive scenes and the detailed textures of trees and grasses, constellations of flowers, the inexhaustibly expressive contours of the human face are images that fascinate me.


Brushstrokes are my handwriting; they work alongside the other elements of painting—line, shape, color—to express my vision of the world and the emotions I feel. I have developed an expressive painting technique combining delicate yet graphic brushwork with intensive layering of color. Within the painting, brushstrokes are spontaneous yet as eloquent as gestures.

The study of light drives the work. Each touch of color relates to the entire surface, creating effects that transmit my experience to the viewer. The works are obviously, proudly hand-painted. The signs of the brush, the traces of my eye and energy, make it clear that they were not machine-made. When I feel I have expressed my vision I declare the work done.

Biography

Deborah Sherman is a painter living and working in NYC. She has often traveled to beautiful destinations to seek new places to inspire her work. Ms. Sherman received a grant to fund an artist's residency at La Macina di San Cresci in Chianti, Italy. During a sabbatical year from teaching art she worked intensively at a residency in Dordogne,France. Most recently she received a grant to paint in a lighthouse retreat in Port Bickerton, Nova Scotia.

She has shown work in numerous venues in New York including a one person show in the Mow Gallery at Riverdale Country School and group shows at m55, Bowery, Synchronicity Space, Blue Mountain and other galleries in NYC. She has also exhibited in galleries in Rome and Berlin.

She received a Helena Rubenstein Fellowship to complete a painting MFA at the Parsons School of Design where she worked with Leland Bell, Larry Rivers and Paul Resika. At the National Academy School she was awarded a merit scholarship to study with portraitist Nelson Shanks.