Deborah Weir

Artist Statement

Deborah Weir is a mixed media artist who uses textiles in all her work. Though contemporary in every sense, the work references traditional “women’s work,” slowly built up, mostly by hand, with a needle, using gentle materials – thread, floss, beads – in addition to more modern edgier ones such as Tyvek, metals and found objects. It is detailed, often with reflective surfaces and tiny, rich elements, and does not always neatly fit typical categories but includes collage and heavily worked or embroidered surfaces as well as art quilts and weaving.

While Deborah loves the process of making, the artwork is always idea driven. She works in series of importance to her such as the cave paintings of Spain, France and Australia; industrial detritus (and the Gyres – garbage patches in our oceans); Fierce Winds and Confluence which explore climate change and aspects of water respectively. Presently, she is exploring issues of incarceration, based on photos she took at Alcatraz, and how imprisonment reflects racial and class bias.