Rio Grande National Heritage Area New Mexico

Debra Fritts is a studio artist working in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She enjoys national recognition for her work in ceramic sculpture through invitational exhibitions and awards, museum exhibitions, gallery representation, private collections and publications. Her one of a kind sculptures are hand-built and multiple fired with a painterly glazed surface. The work is a continuous story of awareness and the celebration of daily living.

Statement
As an interdisciplinary artist, I create artwork using printmaking, drawing, installation, and any combination thereof. Grounded in traditions of performance walking, I use trekking to investigate ritual and rhythm that test my physical and psychic boundaries. I utilize tools such as GPS tracking, audio recording, and photography to record my treks and pose questions of wandering, displacement, routes, and territory. The concept is inspired by my practices of long-distance running, printmaking, encountering nature, and experiencing raw solitude.


BIO
I am a multidisciplinary artist who explores intersections of running, nature, and solitude. Recent exhibitions include Listening to the Forest, Brooklyn, NY (2016), My Own Private Wilderness, Lake George, NY (2015) Nomadic Geographies (2014), Wave Hill, NY; In the Spirit (2014), Pioneer Bluff, KS; Tracing Nature, Muriel Guepin, NY (2012). Group exhibitions include Influencers (2014) Print Center of NJ; and Corridor Gallery (2012) Brooklyn, NY.

Residencies include C-Scape National Seashore Residency, MA, (2016); LMCC Govenor's Island Process Residency, NY, (2016) Outpost Studios, KS, (2014); International Nature and Culture, ARTTasmania, Australia (2008); C-Scape, Provincetown, MA (2007-08); Lower East Side Printshop, (2006-07), NYC; Santa Fe Art Institute, NM (2005); FransMasereelCentruum, Belgium; Miskolc Museum of Modern Art, Hungary. I am a Fulbright Fellow and an NEA-MidAtlantic Fellow. In 2011, I had the pleasure of running on Track and Field, the Allora and Calzadilla sculpture at the 54th Venice Biennale.

In 2010 I founded Stonetrigger Press in Abiquiu, NM. Located in the high desert, I built by hand a large studio out of stone, mud, wood and tin. Each year I spend several uninterrupted months deeply engaged in my practices--art, running, mountaineering.

I received an M.A. and M.F.A. from University of Iowa.