Debra Smith
Fiber artist, Debra Smith harkens her work to drawing, poetry and painting and approaches fabric as a poetic language. Through meticulous construction she conjures movement and depth in her art to evoke a sense of history and weight, expressing an emotion or a moment in time. “Within my work, I believe I am breaking all stereotypes associated with textiles, from ideas of craft to that of, “women’s work”; before I even begin to cut, sew and piece the material back together.” Smith began working with vintage kimono fabric and striped silk more than two decades ago, discovering the elegant textile remnants in the Garment District of New York City. A graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute (BFA Fibers) and the Fashion Institute of Technology (Associates in Applied Science), she has exhibited her work internationally and is in museum and corporate collections.