Bio: Born and raised in New Jersey, Deborah Way is a contemporary artist living in western Massachusetts. She completed an undergraduate degree in studio art at Hampshire College in 1994. Ranging in size from intimate to immersive, her work tends to be abstract, organic, and psychological. Her art practice has a welcoming, handmade sensibility. She has participated in several solo and group shows over the past ten years, including at the A3 Gallery in Amherst and Abigail Ogilvy in Boston. In her professional career, she has worked as an editor and writer. She is currently working towards her MFA in Studio Art at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, with a projected completion date of summer 2025.

About the work: Working largely in the medium of soft sculpture, I make work that is a physical manifestation of what we hide and what we cannot help but reveal. Colorful and playful at first glance, the work can be seen to illustrate the secret fears that are alleviated when allowed to be examined. The psychological side of my work is the result of the exploration of my personal anxieties, but these anxieties may also be the result of external factors, such as our environmental crisis and the current political climate. I explore the interaction between what our civilized, outer selves present to the world while our inner selves roil messily beneath.

I choose materials such as fabric and papier-mâché because they are familiar and invite touch while calling to mind apparel and the human form. Fabrics are chosen with the intent to induce nostalgia or conjure specific familial figures. I add wire and plastic fencing elements as sharp-edged structures that represent dark cages or the inorganic and man-made. To induce a feeling of tension, I enjoy using contrasting elements, such as hard and soft or bright and dark. The overall balance obtained by each piece is a symbol of what we can accomplish when both inner and outer selves are in tune.

[updated June 25, 2025]