Debra Lynn Gold

On my most creative days, the artist in me continuously attends to and filters the visual content of my world. These mental snapshots may capture only a detail — maybe more. The twist in a twig, the odd landing of a shadow, the silhouette of a fence, can all become sketches. Those sketches exist first in my imagination, perhaps later on a piece of paper, but most often directly in my material of choice — metal. It seems very natural to me to think one can sketch in metal. I believe each artist selects the best material to give voice to their images. An intimate relationship forms. Material–process–statement — are all one.

 My experience as an educator also informs my work as an artist. I’m accustomed to reducing concepts to their basic components. Line is the simplest, most easily understood and most versatile element. My work focuses on line in motion. My work invokes movement, either actual physical movement or visual pathways. This dynamic ultimately carries through to the wearing of a piece, when the movement of the piece and the movement of the wearer work together in unison.

Finishing a piece requires that I physically and intellectually repeatedly retrace each line and surface with my hands and my tools, reacquainting me with the origins of my conception. The object itself offers this ongoing dialog, often suggesting to me where to take my next idea. As each object becomes a springboard for the next, it creates movement in the creative process itself.