Installation view Deborah Joyce Holman – A Soft Spiral, Mikro, Zurich 2019, courtesy of the artist & Mikro, photo: Raphael Wanner
For Art Taaalkssss London-based artist and curator Deborah Joyce Holman speaks about her practice and interest in strategies of refusal, the figure of the trickster and shapeshifter, the power of the in-between and the subtle, looking for alternatives to making work about identity (and mostly deviations from the white cis male ID), but rather using it as a methodology or formal approach to working. To contextualize her approach, she will link in with topics she has recently explored with Cinders, sinuous and subtle, the exhibition she curated in 2019 for Les Urbaines in Lausanne, her recent exhibitions at Mikro in Zurich and with Alienze at Material Art Fair in Mexico City.
The practice of Deborah Joyce Holman spans various mediums, while it is strongly informed by a sculptural approach. Recurring themes in her work are the notion of authorship, the refusal of representation and visibility, as well as the destabilizing of boundaries between fiction, truth and facts. She recently completed her residency at Gasworks in London where she focused on her writing practice. She is currently based in London and works as associate director of Auto Italia South East. She is the co-founder and director of 1.1, an arts and music platform in Basel, where she has commissioned and curated solo exhibitions and other formats such as concerts, text, DJ mixes and talks.
