Explore Deb Furey’s work and practice͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ ͏‌ 
Foundry Gallery
 

Studio Visit w/ Deb Furey

Studio Visit is a series of interviews where we sit down with the solo artist of the month to explore their practice and process. This month we are featuring Deb Furey. 

Deb has been painting since her childhood which ultimately led to her art education at Massachusetts College of Art and the Museum School in Boston. After pursuing a career in management consulting and building a family, Deb returned to painting more extensively in 2010. Her practice straddles different media such as painting, drawing, collage-making and photography. Beyond the medium, Deb is interested in the exploration of light and dark and the juxtaposition of unlikely images and objects.

Deb’s Hidden Light is on view through March 26, 2023.

 EXPLORE DEB’S WORK 
 

What got you interested in art?
I have been painting and drawing since a very young age and took lessons when in grade school and studied at a professional artist studio in high school. I always wanted to draw and paint–I learned other arts (e.g., sculpture) but painting has stayed with me the longest.

You mention that you resumed art-making more intensively in 2010 after building your family. What was that dynamic like with being an artist?
Once my kids were on their own adventures, I resumed painting and working as an artist more intensively, meaning most Saturdays and Sundays from 2011. I was working at my marketing strategy job more than full time for years and have just recently gone on to a 4 day week so I have been able to paint more.

Your work has a strong emphasis on color. What is your favorite color?
I tend to like cooler colors–blues and greens generally, but in painting I am interested in creating stimulating colors, which is, in itself, an exploration and practice. I have been working a lot on novel mixes, pushing my thinking on color juxtapositions, and trying things to discover new emotions that colors can affect.

How did you get into photography, and how do you incorporate that with painting?
I have always been interested in the combination of images, particularly the “real” and the drawn. I also really like the possibilities that arise by integrating photos and collage into compositions. In the past, I was creating physical collages and then photographing them and using those photos and paintings. Lately, I have been using photos of dense images of graffiti and organic material, such as flowers, as textures and patterns in my paintings.

Installation view of Deb Furey’s Hidden Light.

Tell us about the interplay of lightness and darkness and how you arrived on it in your practice. 
Even at the very youngest age, humans love looking at high contrast black and white images–some baby toys, for example, have these features. In my work, this interplay is something I experience and sense as I am creating the image; it is not a planned composition but rather evolves as I experience, or “grow,” the lights and darks. I love the deep darkness that engulfs some of the imagery, and I seek to make elements appear 3-dimensional, albeit in impossible landscapes and compositions. 

Could you describe the symbolism in your imagery (cards, jesters etc.)?
I've been wondering about these images and characters myself and where they come from!  What I am starting to think is that they are aspects of my personality or people in my life. To some degree they're hidden and are masquerading as others and/or are peeking out from behind their disguises. I think they are also about the masks we all choose to wear at times–sometimes playful, other times dark and usually spirited.

What have you discovered about yourself, as an artist, in creating this body of work?
I’ve learned that there is still so much more I want to make and that it is just fine if I spend my remaining life making these things. I am really grateful that I have this ability, this yearning/craving to make work and that it is part of me.

From left-right: Retroactive I, Robert Rauschenberg; Untitled 4, Deb Furey; Indulto, Alex Foxton

Who are your art heroes? 
Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Branford, Alex Foxton, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Louise Bourgeoise, Tschabalala Self

Have you seen any good exhibitions lately?
I saw some great work at the Torpedo Factory recently!

What are you reading and/or watching at the moment?
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, great book! And watching The Last of Us.

 

Featured works by Deb Furey (top-bottom): Payaso, 28x40", Charcoal and Acrylic; Untitled 4, 10x10", Oil/mixed; Untitled 1, 10x10", Oil/mixed

 
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Foundry Gallery
2118 8th Street Northwest
Washington, DC, 20001
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