Metamorphosis: Transformation Through Growth Series
Debra Gerard is a painter from the Kimberly, WI area who has been painting since 1985 when she graduated from UW-Green Bay.
In this acrylic series called, Metamorphosis: Transformation Through Growth, Debra explores her personal metamorphosis or transformation through milestone moments of growth in her life as an identical twin, as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a person with PTSD and Bipolar Disorder. It is her challenge that viewers see themselves in some of the growth themes in this series (i.e. To Become Different and Her Choices, etc.), provoke better understanding of themselves or find humor in life’s common moments. Many of Debra’s images come from her dreams and places she has been or imagined. Most things in her work have significant symbolic meaning, such as, the spines that represent her twin sister and herself, the boat that represents her mother, to name a few.
Surrealism is how some people have described Debra’s work. Her work is influenced by Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Joseph Stella, Albrecht Durer, to name a few.
All paintings use a multi-layered process. This process begins with idea sketches on tracing paper, then various idea pieces are moved around on the panel until the final design is reached. The final design is drawn onto the panel with charcoal and then the painting process is begun. Darker colors are painted first, and then slowly built up with medium colors and, lastly lighter colors on a gallery-wrapped panel.
To Become Different
ARTIST STATEMENT
Medium: Acrylic on Gallery-wrapped Panel (24”x 18”x 1.5”)
Being one of “The Twins” growing up was hard, no separation from my sister in other people’s perceptions – even to this day by childhood classmates, and unfortunately, some relatives. This painting is about the moment in my younger life, when I began to become my own person – To Become Different – than my twin sister. I stopped wearing identical clothes, wearing my hair exactly the same as my sister, hanging out with the same girls as my sister, etc. to become more independent to let my personality shine. The spines represent my sister and myself, while the Weber grill represents my father who was ominously always present and occasionally on fire, and the boat represents my mother who was always watching from a distance. The moon is reminiscent of the full moon that shone early the morning of my mother’s death.
It’s important To Become Different and independent from your siblings whether you are a twin or not.