Deborah Ann London, United Kingdom

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I'm a British artist working in paper. I studied art in London, initially at the Sir John Cass School of Art, and then at Central Saint Martin’s majoring in sculpture. Largely human-centred and moving between figuration and abstraction, the work explores ideas around the opposites: fragile/robust; surface/subsurface; build/raze; expose/conceal with a deepening focus on current social issues.

Typically taking the path less followed, I later decided not to do an MA in fine art, but follow a parallel interest in child and family psychology. After working for some time at ChildLine, I did an MA in psychotherapy and now work in east London as a solution-focused psychotherapist, alongside my art practice. There is a synergy with the conversations I have and the issues I work with in my therapy practice and my work in the studio. This synergy extends to the medium I work with – paper and spraypaint. My training as a sculptor informs a different approach to a material which generally starts off as a flat surface.

I'm currently engaged in the first phases of a residential exploring age and becoming older. How age is perceived and experienced has long been of interest and issues around it frequently arise in therapeutic conversations. Through the route of socially engaged practice this body of work will explore and reflect subjective experiences and views of age and becoming older, and what that means for people across different ages, cultures, races and abilities. As an artist I can explore it from a different perspective and hopefully contribute to the debate on longevity.