Deborah Perlman

Deborah Perlman was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently based in South Florida. A graduate of Boston University (BFA) and Cranbrook Academy of Art (MFA, sculpture), Deborah is influenced by her training in sculpture, as well as African art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Constructivism, Geometric Abstraction, and Cubism.

She says, “Life is never what you expect it to be. It’s my experience that living happens in a gray area – it is neither black nor white. Euphoria and true love coexist with loss and disappointment – this is my truth and the inspiration for my artwork.

Depicting an ‘almost-but-not-quite-real’ world somewhere between authentic and imagined, my art echoes my life experience, challenging me to celebrate ambiguity, explore my perspective of reality, and question previous ideas and established thoughts.”

Deborah works in mixed media to create bas-relief works that interpret the dynamics of space, light, shape, and form, creating an “other world”.

Using archival paper and adhesive, she constructs three-dimensional forms by cutting, scoring and folding each element, then adhering it to the base.

“I am compelled to see sculpturally, creating my pieces in bas-relief, building and lifting certain elements to emphasise the spatial dynamics of the piece. Juxtaposing forms and shapes, I highlight their points of contact and the shadows they cast.”

This series of abstract collages invites the viewer into a space of implied realism and compels them to consider: Where is it? What is it? Do they find themselves in it, or not? What is seen; what is felt?