DEBORAH PERLMAN STATEMENT & BIO
STATEMENT
ENTER A WORLD SOMEWHERE BETWEEN REAL AND IMAGINED
Depicting an ‘almost-but-not-quite-real’ world somewhere between authentic and imagined, my artwork celebrates ambiguity, sliding in and out of reality, and compelling me to challenge previous ideas and established thoughts.
I find excitement and mystery in three dimensional forms and spaces. Creating wall-mounted sculpture draws me into a world of the unknown, challenging me to go beyond what I know and face what I don’t. It is thrilling and frightening at the same time, bringing me to new awareness and understanding.
The material I use is ever expanding. Currently, I work with paper, wire mesh, flat aluminum wire, wood, plastic, and adhesive. Building three-dimensional forms, I adhere each element to the base, then juxtapose them to highlight their points of contact and the shadows they cast.
My goal is to create spaces that challenge the senses, evoke emotion, and ask you to consider:
• What is it?
• Where is it?
• What do you see and feel?
• Do you find yourself in it, or not?
I invite you to glimpse into my interpreted world and find your place within it.
BIO
Deborah Perlman was born in Baltimore, Maryland and is currently working in South Florida. A graduate of Boston University (BFA, sculpture) and Cranbrook Academy of Art (MFA, sculpture), she has exhibited her work regionally and nationally, won several awards, and has been featured in a number of art publications.
Influenced by her training, Perlman creates mixed media wall-mounted sculpture interpreting the dynamics of form in three dimensions. She creates ‘almost but not quite’ real spaces, somewhere between authentic and imaged and invites the viewer into the scene, to discover where they find themselves.
She creates her work using a variety of materials and constructing three-dimensional forms. She then adheres them to the base, juxtaposing them to highlight their points of contact and the shadows they cast.
Perlman’s influences include 19th and 20th century African sculpture; the Constructivism, Geometric Abstraction, and Cubism (Picasso, Braque, Lipschitz) art movements; Giorgio de Chirico’s ‘illogical perspective’ works; Louise Nevelson’s bas relief works; Joseph Cornell’s shadow boxes; and Frank Stella’s metal reliefs, among others.