Debra Maddox Fine Art

Debra Maddox
415 383-4065
dsm131@yahoo.com

Documenting the perceptual environment either through painting or photography has always intrigued me. Observing how shadow, light, color and texture transform shapes and forms into compelling compositions drives my desire to record what I see in the world around me.

My work reflects two components. One is visual and the other is emotional. Compositional elements are arranged to capture the relationship of light and shadow, shape and form, as well as color and texture. A repetition of shapes creates a vibrancy of rhythm.

I hope to evoke an emotional response with each image. Some of my work records a single thrill seeking moment as seen in the carnival ride series, or quiet solitude as reflected in the still life and landscape images. The old car series evokes nostalgia of a bygone era. The architectural series conveys a sense of time and place, while the figurative work might tell a story or create a mystery with ambiguities.

I like to think of my work as a fusion of photography and painting. Typically, I will create a montage of several of my photos in order to create a desired composition. Using those images as a reference as well as on-location sketches, I will begin to brush paint onto the canvas and organically develop the composition. Often, I will transfer actual photographic elements directly onto the canvas to create a mixed media effect. I allow my imagination take control to create a scene that oftentimes only exists in my mind.

The SX 70 Emulsion images which appear in the second section of this website are hand-colored works on watercolor paper. The paradox of SX 70 Emulsion is that it is more of a purely photographic medium than a photo-realist painting, however it is more painterly in appearance.

Whether creating paintings on canvas or developing SX70 Emulsion images, I like to blur the boundaries between photography and painting, as well as to blur the perception of illusion and reality.



Education

After graduating with a Bachelors Degree in Art Education, I completed post-graduate work in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. I continued my studies of fine arts at various institutions around the Bay Area where I devoted my concentration on painting and photography.

Special Honors

In 2000 and 2006 I was selected as a commemorative artist of the Sausalito Art Festival. In 2002 through 2009 my work has been selected to be included in the annual publications, "Art of Northern California", "American Art Collector", and "Art of Seeing" by Alcove Publishers. My paintings and photographs are in corporate and private collections throughout the U.S.