Today we’d like to introduce you to Deedra Ludwig.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I love this question. I’ve always been thinking and creating from the view point of an artist as far back as I recall. Being an only child drawing, painting and collage helped me create imaginary places to venture into.
I was born in Chicago and frequented the Art Institute with my family where Georgia O’Keeffe paintings seriously caught my attention. Throughout my education art became a safe haven for self expression. My grandmother Julia, a talented painter provided my first art lessons at her New Orleans studio. She nurtured and respected my creative process, so to this day she created the foundation for my growth into the artist I have become. I’m fortunate to have artist ancestors back to my great, great grandmother. It’s in our DNA.
My first exhibitions were in the 1980s on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. I was part of Now Gallery and known for an ongoing series of collaged “Micro Works” that toured Miami, Chicago and London. I worked with found materials off the streets of New York City that documented a four year span of culture in Manhattan as portable time capsules.
Following Manhattan I returned to Atlanta where I began painting large scale works that evolved into atmospheric landscapes addressing the constant ebb and flow of the natural world. Early exhibitions include works at The Atlanta Biennale, Nexus, The McIntosh Gallery, Trinity Gallery, The Blue Rat Gallery, The Mattress Factory, New Visions Gallery, The Red Clay Survey, Huntsville Museum of Art, New York University, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans and Institute of Contemporary Arts London.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
A major struggle along the path has been finding and keeping affordable studio space. Over the past decades, I personally lost workspaces due to the conversion of studio warehouses into luxury condos or complete tear downs. There is real need for artist workspace in every urban community. I’ve adapted to making spaces work regardless of not being perfect. I keep pushing.
2020 was a shock so I took the opportunity of pandemic lockdown to experiment with everything on hand in my workspace. I hunkered down my Atlanta studio creating hundreds of small works on paper, experimented with pigments of shoe polish, crayons, coffee grounds and plant dyes. The mantra of “what can I do tomorrow in the studio that I haven’t done before” kept me motivated to produce a solo exhibition at Thomas Deans Fine Art 2021.
The rewards have definitely outweighed the challenges. I think timing plus putting in the years of work has had a tremendous effect on my career path. Sometimes I’ve been in the right places where my work was not only appreciated but needed. I’m thankful for great gallery owners and their staff and especially grateful for my collectors.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As an artist, I remain committed to documenting observations of the natural world and recording them through the mediums of oil pigments, acrylic resin, dry pigments, ink and soil. The use of materials such as soil serves as a foundation in which a “sense of place” is layered into each painting. My process is a synthesis of decades of experimentation with color, mark-making, and composition all linked to my reverence of the primordial world. Rather than re-creating a literal landscape on canvas, I aim to express its essence.
I’m most comfortable when painting or in the studio. After four decades of being a visual artist it feels good to have the motivation for more studio sessions. So many possibilities are in the mix just by showing up. When I begin a painting, my process is to start clean and fresh not over repeating my colour palette or structure so I seek variations with every painting. Where I am now is a culmination of practice, dedication, curiosity, letting go of fear and accepting myself.
What were you like growing up?
Looking back, I was a natural born explorer and very curious of my surroundings especially the outdoors. I loved geology, playing in dirt, botany, field trips, space exploration, geography, collecting maps, painting, ecology, reading and photography. When Polaroid cameras were first released I was only interested in talking pics that documented nature.
Again I’ll mention Julia my artist grandmother. She saw my talent before anyone else so my growing up time was all about creative expression. What a blessing and it all comes full circle eventually.
Pricing:
- $1,500
- $16,000
Contact Info:
- Email: Deedraludwig@gmail.com
- Website: www.deedraludwig.com
- Instagram: @Deedra_Artist
Image Credits
©️Deedra Ludwig 2022
