Photogram Works by Artist Debra Levie displayed on Patty Turner Center Art Wall

The public is invited to the Patty Turner Center (PTC) in Deerfield to view the works of Artist / Art Instructor Debra Levie, during the month of November. Levie’s display, from her series Orphan Tears, includes black and white photographs which are photograms. Levie says, “This is a very old way of making photographs predating the use of the camera, negative, and enlarger.  To create a photogram, an object is placed upon a sheet of photography paper. The sheet of paper is exposed to light using a darkroom enlarger. The exposed photography paper is put through a series of chemical baths, then washed, and dried.”

Levie continues, “For the photograms in this series, the images are shapes and textures created using the fabric of handkerchiefs. The handkerchiefs were my Grandmother’s. When she died, my mother allowed me to inherit the handkerchiefs. I didn’t know what I wanted with them, but I was drawn to their history and the associations with my Grandmother. A few years after she died, I began to create this body of work. The title Orphan Tears refers to my mother being made an orphan upon the death of her mother. The crying of tears happens when mourning a loved one upon their death.”

A Midwesterner by birth, Levie was formally educated at Beloit College and at The Philadelphia College of Art/University of the Arts earning her B.F.A.  She also studied with Ray K. Metzker and Doris Staffel and at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, earning her M.F.A. studying with Barbara Crane and Marilyn Houlberg.

Levi’s work is in private and museum collections including The Art Institute of Chicago. Countless photographs have been exhibited in galleries, and published in traditional print and electronic media.  She teaches photography at Columbia College Chicago and delivers art history presentations to many adult communities in the area.

Levie concludes, “Thank you (in advance) for taking the time to look at these photographs. Please leave written comments and observations in the black book. These pieces are for sale.  If interested, please contact me at debra.levie@earthlink.net.  Additional work is on the webpage debralevie.com.”

Patty Turner Center is at 375 Elm Street, in Deerfield; website: www.PattyTurnerCenter.org. For more information, call 847-940-4010 or email info@PattyTurnerCenter.org.