Deb Lawrence works with antique, homespun linen that was handwoven by women in the 19th century. Her highly abstract work is distinguished by its unique materiality, process, and conceptual intention. Her work simultaneously comments on three important movements in American arts: the long tradition of arts and crafts, feminist artists' appropriation of these traditionally "female" crafts for their work and, of course, the grid as an underlying basis for abstraction. Lawrence views her pieces as psychologically infused "security blankets," in which she conveys women's internal struggle to feel comfortable in their own skin while simultaneously struggling to be heard and valued in contemporary society.
