Artist Statement
I utilize the medium of glass to translate the breath-taking grandeur and delicate fragility of the natural world into a unique sculptural interpretation. The intricate structure of living things and how they thrive in harmony with each other is explored in my reflection of orchids and other botanical studies.
The astounding variety within the orchid family provides endless opportunities for artistic expression with their vibrancy of color and elegance of form. The necessity of the blooms to bond with a strong, stable host – an interdependence that nurtures and sustains both is a metaphor of the human condition in its tenuous and essential relationship with the earth.
Within each work, glass is used like paint to achieve depth of color. The material’s inherent ability to transmit and reflect light, as well as its variations from transparency to opacity, lends itself perfectly to achieve desired textures and surfaces.
By combining new techniques with traditional glass-blowing skills, and a passionate attention to form and detail, these pieces express my vision of an exotic environment; one that is rooted in reality but springs from the imagination.
These works are a both personal meditation on the glorious wonder of nature, as well as a celebration of its power and mystery.
Debora Moore, 2012
CV
Debora Moore, American born 1960
Professional Experience
1994-present Fiori Studio, owner, Seattle, WA
2015 Nijima International Glass Art Festival, artist - in - residence
2008-2011 Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WA, Board of Trustees
2005 Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA, artist-in-residence
Abate Zanetti, Murano, Italy, first female artist-in-residence
2004 Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario, visiting artist
2001 Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA, instructor
1995 - 1997 Hilltop Artist-in-Residence Program, Tacoma, WA, instructor Stanwood, WA,
Scholarship student (also 1992,1990)
1992 – 1994 Glass Eye Studio, Seattle, glassblower
1992 – 1993 Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, instructor
1992 Chihuly, Inc., Seattle, glassblower/assistant
1990 Pratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, Student
Awards/Collections
2023 Better Together Residency, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
2021 Yvonne Twining Humber Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievements, Artist Trust, Seattle, WA
Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, DC, permanent collection
2020 Commissioned by the Art in Embassies program, United States Department of State
2019 Tacoma Art Museum, permanent collection
2014 New Britain Museum of American Art, permanent collection, New Britain, CT
2012 Crocker Art Museum, permanent collection, Sacramento, CA
Chrysler Museum of Art, permanent collection, Norfolk, VA
2008 American Style Award, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
2007 Rakow Commission, The Corning Museum of Glass, Permanent Collection, NY
35th International Glass Invitational, Critics Award, Royal Oak, MI
Corning Museum of Glass, Meet The Artist Podcast, Corning, NY
2005 Tacoma Museum of Glass, - Artist in Residence, Tacoma WA
Neues Glas, Winter 2005, Artist Portrait Article
Abate Zanetti - Artist in Residence, Murano Venezia Italy
2004 Muskegon Museum of Art - Permanent collection, Muskegon, MI
Harbourfront Centre, Flora - the ubiquity of nature, Visiting Artist, Toronto Canada
2002 Philander Smith College, Donald W. Reynolds Library & Technology Center,
Permanent Collection, Little Rock, Arkansas
2001 Jon and Mary Shirley Collection, Seattle, WA
1990, '92, '95 Scholarship, Pilchuck Glass School, Stanwood, WA
1998 African American Design Archive, Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, NY
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2019 Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
2017 Museum of Northwest Art, La Connor, WA
2015 Debora Moore: Glass Orchidarium, Northwest African American Museum, Seattle
2012 Orchidilerium, Habatat Galleries, West Palm Beach, Florida
Collectanea Botanica – Orchidaceae, Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, Ohio
Works by Debora Moore, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
2010 Orchidaceae, Traver Gallery, Seattle, WA
2008 Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, Florida (also 2003)
2006 Orchidaceae, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, New York
2005 Reflections on Nature, Museum of Glass, Tacoma
2004 Glass By, Muskegon Museum of Art, Michigan
2002 Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
Foster/White Gallery, Kirkland, WA
1999 Pismo Gallery, Denver, Colorado
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Outside: In, Cummer Museum, Jacksonville, FL
Glass Art. Beauty. Design., Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, Washington D.C
Cheongju Craft Biennale 2023, Chungcheongbuk-do, Rep. of Korea
2021 Montague Gallery, San Francisco
2021 Orchids: Attraction & Deception, Barry Art Museum, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
2021 Orchids: Hidden Stories of Groundbreaking Women, Smithsonian Gardens and National Portrait Gallery
2020 Forces of Nature: Renwick Invitational 2020, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum
2017 3rd Annual International Glass Event, Ringling Creative Art Center, Sarasota, FL
Women in Glass, Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs, CA
2016 Naples Collects, Baker Museum, Naples, Florida
Matched Makers: Northwest Artist Couples, Museum of Northwest Art, La Conner, WA
Fragile Legacy, Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York, NY
41st International Invitational, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
Hot Spot, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH
2015 SOFA Chicago, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
2014 SOFA Chicago, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
2013 SOFA Chicago, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
2012 Fifty by Fifty: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Studio Glass, Muskegon Museum of Art, MI
Evolution/Revolution: 50 Years of American Studio Glass, Naples Art Museum, FL
Liberty in Bloom, National Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA
50 Years of Studio Glass, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, KT
International Invitational Annual, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
(also 2011,2009,2007,2001-2005)
2011 Convergence Zone, Bellevue Arts Museum, WA
Glass Quake 2011, Mobilia Gallery, Cambridge, MA
Seattle Reigns, Ken Saunders Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010 Flora – The Botanical Experience, Glasmuseet Ebeltoft, Denmark
2009 9th Northwest Biennial, Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
All in the Family, Suffolk Center, Virginia
Orchid Mania, Cleveland Botanical Garden
2008 Glorious Glass: Translucent and Opaque, The Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL
2006 Fresh! Contemporary Take on Nature and Allegory, Museum of Glass, Tacoma
2005 Palm Beach 3, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2004 World Glass Exhibition, William Traver Gallery, Tacoma, WA
Garden of Glass, Tobin Hewitt Gallery, Louisville, KT
Glass by Debora and Benjamin Moore, Muskegon Museum of Art, MI
Fragile Nature, Habatat Galleries, Royal Oak, MI
2003 Glorious Glass: Color & Form, SeaTac Airport, Seattle, WA
Art Palm Beach 2003, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, FL
2001 Winter Orchidarium, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
2000 Glass: A Celebration, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, New York, NY
The Artistry of Orchids, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C
1999 Timeless Garden – Glass in Bloom, Chappell Gallery, Boston, MA
1998 Languages of Flowers, Gump’s, San Francisco, CA
Professional Travels
Argentina Grenada Antarctica Denmark France Germany Jamaica
Mexico Turkey Greece Hong Kong Scotland Puerto Rico Czech Republic
Japan Thailand Italy Netherlands England Ireland West Indies
Denmark Costa Rica Singapore