Woodward Gallery presents the solo exhibition of "Deborah Claxton in Cut Paper Cut, Hand-Cut Paper Paintings". Claxton conjures up sculpture, drawing and photography skills to create realistic images. She precisely cuts small bits of paper herself, not with a laser, but with miniature scissors and a magnifying lens.
Claxton envisions the picture from the final layer in, and reverse engineers the composition. She essentially builds her desired image by blending and contrasting, neutralizing or bringing out the vitality of an adjacent solid color. Playfully cutting out shapes to nourish her imagination, Claxton makes it look easy!
The ultimate themes are engaging places, expressive figures, and floral still lifes inspired by her own photography. Claxton is singularly able to convey dimensionality by layering colored paper. The resulting immensely detailed paper paintings inconceivably come together.