MY STUDIO PRACTICE
I am an interdisciplinary, expressionistic, figurative artist: I work in a number of mediums, my greatest influence has been the Expressionist Movement, and the central focus of my work is the figure. I am a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. I also create handmade artisan jewellery. Each piece in my jewellery collection is an original piece of functional art that expresses not only the work of the artist but the personality of the wearer.
Learning and exploring have always been an important part of my creative practice. In my studio I often combine mediums in a single work. Examples of this could be combining printmaking and collage with acrylics, pairing steel with paint and assemblage, or ceramics with wire, collage and oil paint.
Another element that has been consistent in my work over the decades is the use of line. For me line is very powerful, both in the application of it and as I stand back and experience it in a finished piece. Line is a unique language that allows me to freely express myself as an artist.
Through my work I explore what it is to be human in a world fraught with grief and fear, but also seasoned with joy. I am intrigued by life in general, but especially by the relational dynamics of person to person in the larger context of the world around us. This theme has persisted throughout my artistic career.
ARTIST BIO – Deborah S. Maurer
Deborah Maurer is a daring, passionate figurative artist whose distinctive style and artistic voice has matured over decades of study and experimentation. Her work is bold — at times uncomfortable, often humorous. She is an interdisciplinary artist — a painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Deborah often combines mediums in search of the truest expression of an idea.
Her education is a collage — a compilation of OCAD, U of T, Open Studio (Toronto), NSCAD, and many others. Most notable among her countless influences is the late Canadian figurative painter Telford Fenton, under whom she studied and with whom she shared a hometown — Chesley, Ontario.
Deborah has been a practicing artist/sculptor for over 40 years and has won numerous awards and commissions. She has a long exhibition history in Canada and the United States, and her work is in collections across Canada, the US, Norway. Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, London UK, and Cayman Islands.
Deborah knew she was an artist from very early childhood-that has been the one constant in her 70+ years of life. Born in 1950 in rural Chesley, Ontario, the artist spent childhood summers on her grandparents' farm where, in her words, she "spent more time with the animals than with people". She jokingly suggests that "perhaps that's why I visualize and create my character portraits with a sense of distance, as though they are of a different species than myself". “Yet”, she says, “I am intimately connected to them-they are an extension of me”.
In 1960, her father (in the Canadian Army) served in the Republic of the Congo, Africa, with United Nations’ peacekeeping forces. While in Africa her father sent home large parcels containing paintings and sculpture. This sparked a love for African art that can be felt in much of her work even today.
In addition to her love for African art, Deborah’s work echoes the German Expressionist movement. Her work is alive and dynamic, colourful, and often has a humorous quality that is the artist’s unique personal voice.
She approaches her work with a freedom that allows her to reinterpret as she explores. Deborah finds this organic process exciting and adventurous, and most importantly, natural. She often begins a piece with a pre-conceived notion of how it will develop, but she works very loosely, enabling her to change direction as the work evolves.
Deborah attributes the exuberance in her work to a life-long passion for learning, unrelentingly challenging herself, and the on-going exploration of materials and their expressive qualities. Her hope is to share her passion, excitement, and energy with others through her work.
Over the years she has been unrelenting in her pursuit of knowledge and artistic expression. She has gained her own unique style through years of study and bold hands-on experimentation.
Among the legions of artists whose work and lives have indelibly influenced the artist are: Telford Fenton (under whom she studied at Three Schools, Toronto), Graham Coughtry, Gordon Rayner, Karel Appel, Francis Bacon, James Ensor, George Rouault, Henry Moore, Kees VanDongen, Marc Chagall, Ivan Albright, Willem De Kooning, Jackson Pollock.
EDUCATION
OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design), Toronto
University of Toronto (Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations)
NSCAD University, Halifax NS - Interdisciplinary
NSCCD-NS Centre For Craft and Design- numerous workshops
Open Studio, Toronto - printmaking
Three Schools, Toronto - studied oil painting under Telford Fenton
Humber college - Jewelry
Halliburton School for the Arts - stone carving
ROM wax figurative sculpture
numerous workshops