Deborah Lawrence Schafer, a multidisciplinary visual artist, was born in 1970 in San Antonio, Texas, and is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She received an A.B. in Visual Arts from Princeton University, and her art is deeply influenced by her Mexican heritage and her critique of the dominant industrial Western worldview that separates humans from the natural world, allowing for its exploitation and destruction.
Schafer's artistic explorations employ a range of materials, rituals, scientific data, and writings from diverse sources, to reimagine the world through a variety of mediums such as painting, digital collage, photography, and video. Her work offers symbolic restoration by creating new interpretations of the world, inviting the viewer to engage in a more profound relationship with the environment. Through her artistic practice, she challenges the notion of separation between humans and the natural world, offering an alternative perspective that acknowledges the interdependence and mutual influence between all beings.
Schafer has exhibited her work in numerous shows nationally in Texas, Maine, Nevada, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and her art is featured in many private collections. In 2020, she was a resident artist at R.A.R.O. in Madrid, Spain; in 2022, her works were showcased at the CICA Museum in South Korea.
Schafer's artistic explorations employ a range of materials, rituals, scientific data, and writings from diverse sources, to reimagine the world through a variety of mediums such as painting, digital collage, photography, and video. Her work offers symbolic restoration by creating new interpretations of the world, inviting the viewer to engage in a more profound relationship with the environment. Through her artistic practice, she challenges the notion of separation between humans and the natural world, offering an alternative perspective that acknowledges the interdependence and mutual influence between all beings.
Schafer has exhibited her work in numerous shows nationally in Texas, Maine, Nevada, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and her art is featured in many private collections. In 2020, she was a resident artist at R.A.R.O. in Madrid, Spain; in 2022, her works were showcased at the CICA Museum in South Korea.
CV
EXHIBITIONS & PRESENTATIONS
The Village Hub, Botanical, landscape, and figurative work from Deborah Lawrence Schafer and Linda Hirshhorn Pouliot, Woodside, California
October 26 and 27, 2023
The Stendhal Room, Archipiélagos: Fin de Temporada, Clínica de Obra 20/23, Madrid, Spain
Curated and organized by La Forma Impensada
July 1 — 31, 2023
Riekes Center, Corazones Cosidos: Artwork by Deborah Lawrence Schafer
A site-specific installation of over fifty works including three single-channel videos and an audience participation element, Menlo Park, California
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Sanchez Art Center, 2023 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition: Juror's Talk & Artists Virtual Gallery Walk, Pacifica, California
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Sanchez Art Center, 2023 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Pacifica, California
Juried by Renee Cyla Villasenor
April 14 — May 21, 2023
Artemis Gallery, Reflections on Landscape and Nature
artsy.net
January 14 — March 14, 2023
CICA Museum, In Touch 2022 exhibition, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
November 16 — December 4, 2022
Upstart Modern, Resilience | A Visual Proclamation, Sausalito, California
September 14 - October 21, 2022
La Quinta del Sordo, R.A.R.Os Tesoros Felices, Madrid, Spain
Curated by María Lightowler
June 30 — July 8, 2022
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine
May 26 — June 22, 2022
The Holy Art Gallery, Oppositions II, London, UK
Online at theholyart.com. May 22 — 28, 2022
440 Gallery, 17th Annual Small Works Show,
Brooklyn, New York
Curated by George Del Barrio
December 1, 2021 — January 7, 2022
Casa de América, Arte en la Red, octava edición, Madrid, Spain
Online at www.casamerica.es/es/exposiciones/deborah-lawrence-schafer-eeuumexico
Published: November 6, 2021
Pacific Art League, 100th Anniversary Exhibition, Palo Alto, California
Juried by George Rivera
November 5, 2021 — January 24, 2022
Illustrative Voices, Oneness: A Social Justice Exhibition
www.illustrativevoices.org
January 13 — February 10, 2021
Quarry Hill Antiques curated by UpstartModern, Brave New World, Mill Valley, California
January 9 — February 12, 2021
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor Maine, July 23 — August 5, 2020
Quinta del Sordo, Residencias R.A.R.O. Madrid, Spain,
March 25, 2020– canceled due to COVID-19 lockdown
Residencias R.A.R.O. Madrid, Spain
February and March 2020
Art Market San Francisco, Studio Shop Gallery, Booth 207, Fort Mason, San Francisco, April 25 — 28, 2019
Tahoe Gallery, Prim Library, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, Nevada
Colors of Lake Tahoe by Deborah Lawrence Schafer in collaboration with the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Incline Village, Nevada, February 14 — March 22, 2019
Prim Library, Sierra Nevada College, Artist talk, Incline Village, Nevada, March 14, 2019
PALETTE, NEW GROWTH, San Francisco, California
October 27, 2018 — December 2, 2018
and March 4 — April1, 2019
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine,
July 19 — August 1, 2018
A.Space, Group exhibition, Menlo Park, California
February 1 — March 10, 2018
Pacific Art League, Science, Technology and the Future of Art, Palo Alto, California
August 4 — 24th, 2017
Guest Artist
Shaw Jewelry, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine
August 2017
Private sale event, Menlo Park, California, May 18, 2017
Stanford Red Barn auction. May 2017
505 Montgomery Street, Deborah Lawrence Schafer, San Francisco, California
Art Program lobby exhibition curated by Artsource Consulting
Spring 2017
Pacific Art League, Science, Technology and the Future of Art, Palo Alto, California
First Place, juried by David Evan Harris of the Institute for the Future (IFTF)
June 3 — 23, 2016
Pacific Art League, Artists Talks, presentation about Colors of Lake Tahoe series, Palo Alto, California
June 3, 2016
Pacific Art League, Landscape, Seascape, Urbanscape, Palo Alto, California
October 2 — 29, 2015
Pacific Art League, Members' Exhibition, Palo Alto, California
July 3 — 30, 2015
California College of Arts, Dis-Ease: Medical Imagery and Contemporary Looking, MFA class, Visual Criticism Department, presentation about artwork and infectious diseases, San Francisco, California, March 9, 2006
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Solo Mujeres–Corazonada: Quinceañera/Fifteen Years of Women’s Work, San Francisco, California
February 14 — March 21, 2003
Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, Paintings by Deborah Lawrence, Princeton, New Jersey
April 1991
Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, Water and fire sculptures by Deborah Lawrence, Princeton, New Jersey
May 1992
Program in the Study of Women and Gender Department Office, Princeton University, Solo photography exhibition: Is Any Place Truly Natural?, Princeton, New Jersey
Spring 1991
Visual Arts Gallery, The Hockaday School, Watercolor paintings by Deborah Lawrence and Brandy Bowen, Dallas, Texas
Spring 1987
EDUCATION
Princeton University, A.B. June 1992. Department of Art and Archeology, Visual Arts Program.
Awarded the F. LeMoyne Page Thesis Prize in Visual Art for water and fire sculptures.
EXHIBITIONS & PRESENTATIONS
The Village Hub, Botanical, landscape, and figurative work from Deborah Lawrence Schafer and Linda Hirshhorn Pouliot, Woodside, California
October 26 and 27, 2023
The Stendhal Room, Archipiélagos: Fin de Temporada, Clínica de Obra 20/23, Madrid, Spain
Curated and organized by La Forma Impensada
July 1 — 31, 2023
Riekes Center, Corazones Cosidos: Artwork by Deborah Lawrence Schafer
A site-specific installation of over fifty works including three single-channel videos and an audience participation element, Menlo Park, California
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Sanchez Art Center, 2023 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition: Juror's Talk & Artists Virtual Gallery Walk, Pacifica, California
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Sanchez Art Center, 2023 Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Pacifica, California
Juried by Renee Cyla Villasenor
April 14 — May 21, 2023
Artemis Gallery, Reflections on Landscape and Nature
artsy.net
January 14 — March 14, 2023
CICA Museum, In Touch 2022 exhibition, Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
November 16 — December 4, 2022
Upstart Modern, Resilience | A Visual Proclamation, Sausalito, California
September 14 - October 21, 2022
La Quinta del Sordo, R.A.R.Os Tesoros Felices, Madrid, Spain
Curated by María Lightowler
June 30 — July 8, 2022
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine
May 26 — June 22, 2022
The Holy Art Gallery, Oppositions II, London, UK
Online at theholyart.com. May 22 — 28, 2022
440 Gallery, 17th Annual Small Works Show,
Brooklyn, New York
Curated by George Del Barrio
December 1, 2021 — January 7, 2022
Casa de América, Arte en la Red, octava edición, Madrid, Spain
Online at www.casamerica.es/es/exposiciones/deborah-lawrence-schafer-eeuumexico
Published: November 6, 2021
Pacific Art League, 100th Anniversary Exhibition, Palo Alto, California
Juried by George Rivera
November 5, 2021 — January 24, 2022
Illustrative Voices, Oneness: A Social Justice Exhibition
www.illustrativevoices.org
January 13 — February 10, 2021
Quarry Hill Antiques curated by UpstartModern, Brave New World, Mill Valley, California
January 9 — February 12, 2021
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor Maine, July 23 — August 5, 2020
Quinta del Sordo, Residencias R.A.R.O. Madrid, Spain,
March 25, 2020– canceled due to COVID-19 lockdown
Residencias R.A.R.O. Madrid, Spain
February and March 2020
Art Market San Francisco, Studio Shop Gallery, Booth 207, Fort Mason, San Francisco, April 25 — 28, 2019
Tahoe Gallery, Prim Library, Sierra Nevada College, Incline Village, Nevada
Colors of Lake Tahoe by Deborah Lawrence Schafer in collaboration with the Tahoe Environmental Research Center, Incline Village, Nevada, February 14 — March 22, 2019
Prim Library, Sierra Nevada College, Artist talk, Incline Village, Nevada, March 14, 2019
PALETTE, NEW GROWTH, San Francisco, California
October 27, 2018 — December 2, 2018
and March 4 — April1, 2019
Artemis Gallery, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine,
July 19 — August 1, 2018
A.Space, Group exhibition, Menlo Park, California
February 1 — March 10, 2018
Pacific Art League, Science, Technology and the Future of Art, Palo Alto, California
August 4 — 24th, 2017
Guest Artist
Shaw Jewelry, Group exhibition, Northeast Harbor, Maine
August 2017
Private sale event, Menlo Park, California, May 18, 2017
Stanford Red Barn auction. May 2017
505 Montgomery Street, Deborah Lawrence Schafer, San Francisco, California
Art Program lobby exhibition curated by Artsource Consulting
Spring 2017
Pacific Art League, Science, Technology and the Future of Art, Palo Alto, California
First Place, juried by David Evan Harris of the Institute for the Future (IFTF)
June 3 — 23, 2016
Pacific Art League, Artists Talks, presentation about Colors of Lake Tahoe series, Palo Alto, California
June 3, 2016
Pacific Art League, Landscape, Seascape, Urbanscape, Palo Alto, California
October 2 — 29, 2015
Pacific Art League, Members' Exhibition, Palo Alto, California
July 3 — 30, 2015
California College of Arts, Dis-Ease: Medical Imagery and Contemporary Looking, MFA class, Visual Criticism Department, presentation about artwork and infectious diseases, San Francisco, California, March 9, 2006
Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Solo Mujeres–Corazonada: Quinceañera/Fifteen Years of Women’s Work, San Francisco, California
February 14 — March 21, 2003
Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, Paintings by Deborah Lawrence, Princeton, New Jersey
April 1991
Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, Water and fire sculptures by Deborah Lawrence, Princeton, New Jersey
May 1992
Program in the Study of Women and Gender Department Office, Princeton University, Solo photography exhibition: Is Any Place Truly Natural?, Princeton, New Jersey
Spring 1991
Visual Arts Gallery, The Hockaday School, Watercolor paintings by Deborah Lawrence and Brandy Bowen, Dallas, Texas
Spring 1987
EDUCATION
Princeton University, A.B. June 1992. Department of Art and Archeology, Visual Arts Program.
Awarded the F. LeMoyne Page Thesis Prize in Visual Art for water and fire sculptures.