Debra was born on the unceded territories of the WSÁNEC Peoples on southern Vancouver Island in the same coastal community where she grew up, raised her family, and lives today. She attended JOYA: arte + ecologia AiR, Spain, in 2024, after completing Collaborative Artist’s Mentorship Programs, and a Diploma of Fine Arts from the Vancouver Island School of Art.
StatementMy studio practice explores the human experience of transition by engaging with rainwater as a process to transform sunlight-sensitive paper or plant-based dyes into abstract contact prints. Through attentive practices, transient materials and atmospheric conditions I consider our responsibility to attune with nature in an era of ecological decline. My work examines environmental themes and is informed by community collaboration to protect native plant and pollinator habitats.
