Debra Smith

My art is a personal statement of my life experiences as a woman. I want my sculptures to depict the strength that it takes to be a woman in today’s society. For centuries women have been judged as second-class citizens. Since the Women’s Suffrage Movement, women have fought for equality in every aspect of life. They have been expected to fit a specific mold of the “perfect” woman through cultural conditioning from the media and advertising as well as what is considered the society “norm.” It is time to break that societal mold. My sculptures represent women through the use of abstract vessels or representations. Like wombs or uteruses, my sculptural forms become vessels or pods which contain cavities or spaces enveloping the specific messages and incorporating the representations into a place in which something is generated. It is with these representations that a specific issue gets the needed attention and nurturing in order to educate the viewers. Some indigenous tribes such as the Pueblos and Hopis of New Mexico and Arizona believe in creation or emergence from the center of the earth. Based on this belief, they create their dwellings to assimilate the sipapu or belly button. I too incorporate this icon through the use of openings within my sculptures. Whether it's abstract or representational, my sculptures are about the necessity of infusion into society, not just tolerance. They are all a celebration of womanhood. They all represent courage.

As a native New Mexican born in Albuquerque, I have a deep connection to my homeland. Joining the military out of high school and many duty stations later, including working on a Masters in Art in 3D design, it took 36 years to make it back to the Land of Enchantment. As I retired from the government in 2022, while continuing to teach art part time, I have more time to focus on my passion to create with clay. I am inspired by the multicultural aspects and the sacred land of New Mexico. Primarily a clay artist, I love telling narratives with sculptures and organic shapes of my experiences and connections to earth and life itself. Life is fleeting and from time to time I capture in clay those subjects important to me. Through the shapes, textures and colors of my surrounding native land, I embrace the creation cycle from the raw earth to the finished piece. Vessels are organic in shape and might be finished with floral designs, Raku and Saggar treatments which mirror the landscape around us. Each vessel is focused on emergence, discovery and rebirth. It is through the openings (Sipapu) we emerge just as in the many beliefs from this sacred land. I am a member of New Mexico Clay and Pottery Artists and the New Mexico State Committee, National Museum of Women in the Arts.

3-D, Ceramics, Glass, Mosaic, Multi-Media, Photography, Sculpture