Debra Ramsay - Artist Statement

I make reductive, contemplative, non-action artworks where detail is a primary concern. The materials, layers of wax and eggshell inlay, hold subtle qualities. As they are used in my work, eggshells, broken into fragments, become a complex series of marks. Both the shape of the fragment itself and the area between fragments contribute to the mark making. Within each fragment subtle lines are emphasized when pigment seeps into the hairline cracks, mimicking crosshatching. Other linear elements are created where the eggshell intarsia meets the encaustic surface, and where areas of small fragments are isolated from areas containing large shell fragments. Encaustic paint (purified beeswax, pigment, and tree resin) is applied in multiple layers creating subtleties of color and depth. Experimentation with the materials allows the work to evolve. I watch the paint and shell as I apply them, looking for the expressive differences generated by varying their application.

Measuring Parallels, an ongoing series started in 2005, explores the illusive concept of perfection by using a structured mathematical formula. Fifty percent of the surface of each panel is covered by eggshell inlay; the remainder is encaustic paint. In determining the precise size of half the total surface area of the panel and choosing how I shape that half, the overall visual balance is real but not necessarily apparent. The same mathematical formula yields many variable configurations. The mathematical precision results in visual balance that is not symmetrical.

This restriction of formal means grants me freedom to explore the concept of perfection, the intrinsic beauty of two equal parts, and visualize the complexities of balance.

Resume

Education

1991 Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

1986 BA, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY

1981 Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY

Exhibitions

Solo:

• 2007 Franklin 54 Gallery, New York, NY
• 2003 Arsenal Gallery, New York, NY

Group:

• 2007 12 x 12, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
• 2007 Cumberland Gallery, Nashville, TN
• 2007 From Minimum to Maximum, Lascano Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
• 2007 Encaustic National Conference, Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA
• 2007 Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ
• 2006 Visual Aids, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, NY
• 2006 Lascano Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
• 2005 Incognito, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
• 2005 Franklin 54 Gallery, New York, NY
• 2005 Rochford & Messick Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
• 2005 Haddad Lascano Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
• 2005 Guild Hall Members Exhibition, East Hampton, NY
• 2005 Sara Nightingale Gallery, Water Mill, NY
• 2005 Group Show, Hudson Opera House, Hudson, NY
• 2004 Haddad Lascano Gallery, Great Barrington, MA
• 2004 Looking In Looking Out, Paul Mellon Arts Center, Wallingford, CT

Collections

Alliance Capital, New York, NY

North Plains Public Library, North Plains, OR

Queens Hospital Center, Queens, NY

Publications

• 2007 Ed McCormack, Gallery & Studio Magazine, February/March 2005 Calyx, A journal of Art and Literature by Women, Vol. 22, No.3, Summer
• 2005 Calyx, Volume 22, Number 3, Summer

Representation

Lascano Gallery, Great Barrington, MA

Rochford & Messick Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

Franklin 54, New York, NY