Director Deborah Maris Lader

Deborah Maris Lader (Artist, Musician, Performer, Administrator) is the Founder/Director of the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative since 1989, and member of the touring indiefolk band, Sons of the Never Wrong. Deborah exhibits her prints, drawings, photography, and mixed media artwork internationally, and her work appears in many permanent collections, including the Chicago History Museum, the New York Public Library, and the City of Palo Alto. Awards for her service to the artistic community include "The 2007 Arts Advocate Award" from ArtWalk Ravenswood, "The 1999 Paul Berger Arts Entrepreneurship Award" given by Columbia College, Chicago, and "Cultural Contributor of the Year", presented to her by the Lincoln Square Chamber of Commerce in 2003. She is a current (and former Board) member of the Mid America Print Council, the Chicago Artists Coalition and the American Print Alliance. Her artwork has been featured in numerous publications, and most recently has been exhibited at Loyola University Art Museum, the Chicago Cultural Center, Uncommon Ground, Artropolis 2008, the NOVA Art Fair, Morton College, New Leaf Editions (Vancouver) and the Boston Printmakers North American Print Biennial. Deborah also plays guitar, mandolin, and banjo and writes songs and sings with her band, which just released their 6th CD on Waterbug Records.

›› Please visit Deborah's new website to view her artwork!!

Artist Statement

If you visit my studio at the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, the work is so varied that it might appear to have been created by different artists, or maybe "Sybil". I use whatever medium and method necessary to present an honest vision at any given moment, and don't stand on ceremony or adhere to a particular style. I employ photography, printmaking, drawing, painting, construction - whatever works to express ideas that range from the themes of healing and the way dreams are sewn together, to ideas about the beauty of urban decay, the inevitability of change, and how we must appreciate the moment before it vanishes. My life creeps its way into my images, as always. My diagnosis might be some form of creative ADD. My etchings are overwhelmed by detail and minutia, and the paintings are somewhat spare. And then there's the music - I'm in this 18-yr old AltFolk outfit called Sons of the Never Wrong (www.sons.com ). Somehow, all of these diverse expressions come out of the same brain. I don't really have an explanation for it. I just use what I can to express the encyclopedic visual world that surrounds me and keeps the endless movie in my head on "play". Welcome to my planet.

››Please visit Deborah's new website to view her artwork!!

Links

Visit Sons of the Never Wrong

See more of Deborah's artwork at Saatchi

On Myartspace

Interview with Amy Rudberg on Chicagoarts-lifestyle.