Debbie Carlson

Lives and works in Fullerton, CA, USA

Artist statement

Everyday experience has always been a key influence on my process. I collect castaway materials and found objects and re-define their character through my work. I am also fascinated by the imperceptible connections of seemingly random everyday occurrences and how we interact with each other in different social contexts. These inform my artistic sensibility which stems from the notion of transformation, interconnection, and adaption. The work is born from the faith to make change and to transcend humanity. It is not about fulfilling desires but the awakening of spirituality. The tactile nature of my process allows me to meditate and reflect on my daily encounters. The labor of making is a commitment that is obsessive and irrational. Through the repetition of gathering, stitching, binding, compressing, and crumbling, new connections start to unfold, and the work evolves as a biomorphic form that inhabits space. Fragments and the uneventful become a cohesive and meaningful whole. As I explore the transformative possibilities of simple materials and processes, I seek to forge new meanings without compromising the integrity of the things gathered. Repurposing and transforming everyday objects and materials into something poetic and monumental is a metaphor to redefine the purpose of life and to magnify the idea of wholeness as a constructed reality.

Artwork