Artist Statement:

I have been interested in the theme of “Skin” for about 5 years now and show my work in many different mediums -- wall installations of sculptures, paintings and photographs. My most recent work embeds clothing and objects that I collect ie.. shirts and dresses in canvas to create organic shapes. In the Art New England review it was said that ..“the best remain the paintings in which Bohnert has made one big gesture (like irregular, kidney shaped pool of pink flesh tone on white). Some have added fabric collage elements; though merely garments (a lacey sleeve, a ribbed blouse), these attachments read as fossils, suggesting a human presence.”

My other on going work is photography. In this series I am taking self portraits in which I wear the clothing ( before I paint on it) that I collect to embed in my artwork. These photos are also about “Skin” in that they express the way clothing (on skin) can change a persons view and concept of who that person is. It expresses the many different personalities under the “Skin” of us all.

Biography:

As a child Deborah Bohnert lived with her American parents for many years in Japan. She was raised there also by Yoshiko, a kind Japanese woman who impressed upon her the culture of Japan and the importance of being mindful of the environment. When her family moved back to America, they lived in many different places like Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Georgia. Now she lives on the coast of New England with her husband and two cats.

She graduated from Boston University in the Fine Arts Painting Program in 1972 and began extensive training in Gillean Therapy at the Cambridge Psychotherapy Institute. She combined these experiences to bring art therapy to jails, alternative schools,, mental institutions, etc. Then in 1977 she began a private practice in psychotherapy, which she continues today.

In 1999, she began studying art with Bernd Haussmann, the German/American Abstract painter who greatly reinforced Deborah's deep conviction of the importance of art and nature being connected in the world.

Her experience of being a psychotherapist (studying man) and her intense study of nature through observation, meditation and art has confirmed her strong belief that everything is a product of nature.

In all of her work, Deborah Bohnert forms organic structures, evocative of the interconnection of events in nature, expressing the process -- the evolution. Whether she is working with stacking layers of translucent paint on Plexiglas or creating vessels with fiberglass and paint or forming sculptures from latex or painting on canvas, her primary concern is to convey a deep connection to nature.

Her work has been shown in numerous museums, galleries and has won many awards. For example, in the exhibition The American River, out of 1,600 entries she was awarded first prize for her piece "1024 Days" by Carl Belz, Curator Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum; Jeff Rosenheim, Assistant Curator of Photography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Linda Simmons, Curator Emeritus of the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C.

Harry Cooper, Curator of Modern Art at Fogg Art Museum said, "Your work seems to be exploring the line between sculpture and painting in a remarkable way." And when he awarded her Best of Show and he wrote, "Technique is crucial in making art. But what is it? Is it the power to make materials do exactly what you want? Or is it the ability to establish a dialogue with them, to let them use you a much as vice versa? This second kind of mastery is not easy to come by. To get it you have to acquire the first kind (at least partly) and then let it go. In fact, it is less mastery than a level of comfort with the medium, a receptivity to its surprising suggestions, its crazy imperatives, its shouts and murmurs. This was my outlook in selecting the works for exhibition, and especially in awarding the prizes.

Laura Heon, Curator Mass MoCA said "This is beautiful work and I am impressed by your creative and masterful use of materials."

Resume:

Deborah Bohnert
2 Gingerbread Hill, Marblehead MA 01945
781-631-2722
website: www.deborahbohnert.com

SELECTED EXHIBITS

2006
Attleboro Museum Small Works
The Print Center; Philadelphia PA 80th Annual International Competition
A.I.R. Gallery -- NYC Feminist Fashion Show
Brandeis University Vital Voices: Women’s Visions
Montserrat College of Art Solo Exhibition : Out of the Ordinary
Carol Schlosberg Alumni Gallery

2005
Peabody Essex Museum In Nature’s Company -- 11/ 2004 – 11/ 2005
Danforth Museum of Art New England Photographers 2005
The Griffin Museum 11th National Juried Exhibition
Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show

2004
Fort Point Gallery Skin -- Two person show
Attleboro Museum 6th Annual Small Works Honorable Mention
Gallery of Modern Art Fresh Paint

2003
Gallery of Modern Art, MA Deep Listening
Florence Griswold Museum. The American River Best of Show
C.W. White Gallery, Maine Re: Emerging Abstraction
Cambridge Art Association, MA Passion

2002
Gallery of Modern Art, MA Inner Voices
Brattleboro Museum The American River
T.W. Wood Museum The American River
The Montshire Museum The American River
Gallery on the Green, Ct. National Small Works Honorable Award
MPG Gallery, MA New Art 2002

2001
Pleiades Gallery of Contemporary Art, NYC 19th Annual Juried Exhibition
Attleboro Museum Small Works
Cambridge Art Association Red Best of Show


Publications

The Boston Globe, 2005
More than 'Skin' deep by Cate McQuaid,
… “Deborah Bohnert makes strong work that consistently unsettles; it both attracts and repels, and that's a good thing. …Bohnert carries this exhibit.”

The Boston Herald, 2005
Show more than `Skin' deep by Joanne Silver
…..“A more startling vision of man and nature bursts forth in Bohnert's art. The doctored balloons sport eye-popping colors along with physiological oddities. A Valentine's Day's worth of pinks radiates from the painted covers of the four round throw pillows. Found wooden boxes hold poetic pairings of objects, such as a hinged shell and a fleshy deflated balloon. Everywhere, objects hint at organisms growing and dying.”

Art New England, 2005
“The best remain the paintings in which Bohnert has made one big gesture (like an irregular, kidney -shaped pool of pink flesh tone on white.) Some have added fabric collage elements; though merely garments ( a lacey sleeve, a ribbed blouse), these attachments read as fossils, suggesting a human presence.”

Art New England, 2003
…“The final image often feels like an allusion to nature, something perhaps viewed under a microscope. Initial familiarity fades as layers seem to separate from and then melt back into the overall image, almost as if it being viewed is activating the work.”

The American River Catalogue 2002
Arts Media, 2001 Raymond Liddel; “ The Gallery [Gallery of Modern Art] represents a small, extraordinary group of artists that includes... Deborah Bohnert

Media One, 2000
Arts Media, 2000 Eileen Kennedy “The show also includes Deborah Bohnert’s moody neo-expressionistic oil canvas Traces I. In it, a forest full of varied perspectives demonstrates an exciting lexicon of shape and color. There is something of the feel and spiritual power of the Canadian landscape painter Emily Carr. We’d make the drive along the ocean just to see where this landscape painter is heading.”


Awards and Honors

Best Of Show
The American River
Juried by Carl Beltz, Curator Emeritus of the Rose Art Museum and editor of Art New England
“ One looks for the surprise when one is in front of a piece of art.”

Honorable Mention
6th Annual Small Works
Attleboro Museum, Attleboro, MA
Juried by Dorothy Simpson Krause, Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts College of Art

Honorable Award
4th Annual National Small Works
Gallery on the Green, Canton Ct.
Juried by Rachel Rosenfield Lafo, Director of Curatorial Affairs at Decordova Museum and Sculpture Park

Best Of Show
Red: The Cambridge Art Association
"Harry Cooper, Curator of Modern Art, Harvard University Art Museums
Technique is crucial in making art. But what is it? Is it the power to make materials do exactly what you want? Or is it the ability to establish a dialogue with them, to let them use you as much as vice versa? This second kind of mastery is not easy to come by. To get it you have to acquire the first kind (at least partly) and then let it go. In fact, it is less mastery than a level of comfort with the medium, a receptivity to its surprising suggestions, its crazy imperatives, its shouts and murmurs. This was my outlook in selecting the works for exhibition, and especially in awarding the prizes." Harry Cooper

Outstanding Painting Award
Society of Arts and Science International Contemporary Painting Competition
Science Art Society, Jamaica Plain, MA


ART EDUCATION
1999 – 2005 Personal study with Bernd Haussmann
1973 – 1976 Boston University Bachelor of Fine Arts. Painting Program.
1970 – 1972 Dean Jr. College, Associate in Science. Visual Arts program.