Deborah Bakos is a multi-media artist, my studio mate and my mom. Her full-time art career, spanning more than thirteen years, includes exhibitions in public and commercial galleries both locally and internationally. Her work and her writing about art are also available in several publications.
Much of Deborah’s creative energy is directed toward exploring and combining materials. She paints and builds installations from bespoke and ready-made objects and hand embroiders on fabric, photographs and furniture. The messaging in her text-infused installations, collectively named The She Thread Project, invites a dialogue about body autonomy, femininity and informed consent. A natural consequence of sharing an art space with Deborah is a conceptual alliance between our bodies of work. We are impassioned (at times infuriated) by the same tragic global circumstances, hotly discussing these subjects between brushstrokes and stitches. The result is two respective projects with their own distinct touches, both drawing from the intergenerational adversity faced by women
In keeping with her dedicated practice of upcycling gifted, thrifted and found materials, Deborah also gives voice to her concern about our natural environment by painting bizarre and uninhabited landscapes from a future time. She refers to these neon-hued scenes as “harbingers of the inevitable”.
-Written by Sophia Bakos – daughter and studio mate
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Which ’hood are you in?
Most days, you will find me at 1000 Parker Street, a warehouse in Strathcona shared with more than 150 artists and artisans. I am also fortunate to have a little sewing/textile studio in my home in Kitsilano.
What do you do?
I paint, create assemblages and installations, sew, embroider and collect/take photographs. I work on several projects at once and often combine my materials.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working towards an immersive studio installation for the Eastside Culture Crawl, Vancouver’s annual visual arts festival.
My multi-media installation is four years in the making, catalyzed by the #MeToo movement and fueled by the global pandemic. One of my pieces is also included in The Culture Crawl’sjuried exhibition “Next” at the Cultch Gallery.
Where can we find your work?
My paintings are available at Gallery Merrick in Victoria and at Cityscape Gallery’s Art Rental and Sales Program in North Vancouver. You can also visit me at my studio by appointment. Online you’ll find me on my website and on Instagram as @deborah_bakos_art, @she.thread.project or @embellish_her
