I dream.  I dream of horses.  I dream of flying.  I dream of wind blowing across my face.  I dream of riding a motorcycle across the desert across the mountains and to the sea.  I dream of a love so pure and innocent.

 

I create because I have to. 

 

I feel the pain and the joy simultaneously.  I struggle with that reality.  I want to express the struggle. 

 

I am searching for a truth any truth. I want the viewer to feel and to experience my truth and in doing so I want to help the viewer discover his or her own truth.  I think the truth lies as close to the edge as possible.  It takes a lot of skill to remain as close to that edge without falling over. 

 

I have a wall in my studio.  I take that wall as an empty canvas.  I write on the wall.  I contemplate my writings.  When I am ready I turn the writings into visual pieces.  I start with the text. Then I add the visual images.  I use fabrics.   I wander the fabric stores.  I run my hands across the fabrics.  I feel the texture the smoothness and the roughness.  I adhere the pieces to the canvas with acrylic.  They take on a life of their own.  It is no longer fabric.  It is not paint.  I use preprinted pieces.  Created in a factory with no thought of being beyond the visual or beyond the functional.  I change the nature of those fabrics.  I add things, paint and photos.   And then these ordinary and sometimes very ugly pieces take on a beauty and sweetness they were not destined to be. 

 

I have lived my entire life in California.  Right out of high school I moved from Los Angeles to Berkeley.  I received my BFA in Film & Photography from California College of Arts and Crafts.  Two years later, I moved to back to Los Angeles and worked in the motion picture post production business until the technology became obsolete.  I moved to Pinon Hills 2 years ago.  And love the peacefulness.  I work in my garage with the wind blowing, the warm air and the dark skies at night.

 

Debbie McAfee
demcafee@dslextreme.com
760.315.0947