VISIONS OF BIG CYPRESS
“Your work is truly beautiful”
Tina Osceola, Executive Director of the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, Clewiston, Fl
It is not often that an artist comes along who employs the rich palette of south Florida as effectively as Deborah Mitchell has done for an innovative depiction of our unique slice of paradise. Mitchell’s photos of the flora, fauna, and even built objects that define the Big Cypress National Preserve are on display in this stunning exhibit. They come on the heels of her artist in residency experience in 2007 in the preserve. When you walk away from this exhibit, or, at the least, study the items found within this catalog, you will forever see the subtropical abundance of south Florida in a different manner.
This devoted wife and mother has somehow found the time, initiative and energy to bring us, the curious public, a never-before-look at the splendor that we call Big Cypress! Whether it is the camera’s capture of a panther skull at the base of a Cypress tree standing above a bog or a wood stork imbibing the murky waters of the Turner River, Mitchell’s work will make you think of how distinctive, how special is our subtropical portion of the Sunshine State.
Mitchell’s work is the labor of a scholar who has immersed herself in her subject. Before the photo-shooting began, she studied not only Big Cypress, but also the kinds of statements she could make with a camera. She looked carefully at prospective subjects, and then she “interpreted” them, using found objects, text, other photos, and various natural materials to, in her words, “more fully capture that moment in time.” The result is a juxtaposition of images and objects, natural as well as built, that have not been seen before in a study of this kind. The embellishment of the raw photograph is designed to enable us to think more deeply, see more clearly, and come away from this visual experience with new feelings and an enhanced appreciation for the mysterious, majestic preserve, its watery surface, its rich tree and animal life. We will all be richer for the experience.
Dr. Paul S. George, Florida Historian
Deborah Mitchell Selected Exhibitions and Community Service
2010-Documenting our Contemporary Wetlands, The Montauk Library, Montauk, New York, Artists’ talk on July 18th at 4pm
2010-Documenting our Contemporary Wetlands, Museum of the Everglades, Everglades City, FL Opening reception Saturday May 8th, 2010
2010-photographs in “The Bill Ashley Jungles of the Florida Everglades:Landscape Ethnography and the Politics of Nature” (Cornell) by Professor Laura Ogden.
2009- Common Roots, Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Miami Beach, Fl
2009- Recently Acquired, Miami Dade College, Kendall Campus, Miami, Fl
2009-12x12x122 at BECA Gallery-Bridge for Emerging and Contemporary Art,New Orleans, Lousianna
2009-33rd Annual Juried Exhibition, Durango Arts Center, Colorado
2009-Louisville Art Association 18th Annual Juried Photography Show, Louisville Center for the Arts, Louisville, Colorado2008-9 Art Basel, Paraphernalia, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, Fl
2008 - "Lucky You", Bakehouse Art Complex
2008 - Oasis Visitor Center-Visions of Big Cypress, solo exhibition
2007 - Miami Beach Botanical Garden-Visions of Big Cypress, solo exhibition
- Awarded Artist in Residence position at the Big Cypress National Preserve, Big Cypress, FL2006 - Photographed the Cushman School 2006-2007, 2008-2009 Calendar (portraits in sepia with text), Miami, FL
- Photographs included in “The Cushman School” a historical perspective: 1924-2004, a book by Dr. Paul George1999 - Juan Portella & Andrew Frank Gallery, Visions on Wood, solo exhibition, Miami Beach, FL
1998 - First Place, Boca Raton Museum 12th Annual Juried Exhibition, Boca Raton, FL
1995-Paintings and a mural in Quentin Tarantino’s CURDLED, filmed in Miami and LA and released by Miramax.
1995 - Gallery of the Eccentric, Reflections Show, Coral Gables, FL
- La Boheme Fine Art, Works in Small Format II, Coral Gables, FL1994 - Sheldon Lurie, Artists Against Aids Auction, Coral Gables, FL
- XS Best of Gallery Show, Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Children’s Mural, Kenwood Elementary School, Miami, FL1993 - Children’s Mural, Carol City Elementary School, Carol City, FL
- Gallery of the Unknown Artist, Miami Beach, FL
- New Theatre, Coral Gables, FL1991 - Art Under The Stars, American Cancer Society Benefit, Coral Gables, FL
- African-American Awareness Exhibition, North Dade Regional library, Miami, FL
all rights reserved Deborah M. Mitchell