Using the tactility of fabric to mimic the natural environment, Debbie McAfee employs textiles to “paint” landscapes. She scans the horizon through embroidery, color, and cloth bringing physicality back into a two-dimensional plane.
In her first exhibition at Craig Krull Gallery, entitled Desert Sanctum, McAfee captures moments of stillness and quiet in and around Joshua Tree. A longtime resident of the high desert, her daily walks of the area give her an intimate understanding of the surrounding terrain. Documenting vegetation and rock formations, her photography acts as an archive to inform her textile collages. Once a photograph is selected, she slices the image into squares and then re-presents those fragments with collaged and sewn fabric, creating grid patterns of the desert. She prunes trees and rocks into geometric shapes, adorned with stitching that might resemble topography. Each square of her quilt-like construction is assembled with playful, organic, forms.
McAfee was born in San Luis Obispo and raised in Los Angeles, she holds a BFA in film and photography from California College of the Arts. McAfee is a member of the Los Angeles Art Association and has exhibited at Gallery 825, USC Fisher Museum of Art, and other California institutions.