DEBORAH HESSE

I create shaped, biomorphic, sculptural wall works inspired by disparate realms—including wetland debris, primordial inland seas, deep ocean ecosystems, microscopic organisms, imagined future life forms, and celestial systems. Confounding scale and seeking to make the immaterial visible, my work considers natural phenomena across shifting magnitudes, mapping connections between deep time and the present.

The work emerges through a layered process that blends digital fabrication with intuitive material experimentation. Initial shapes are informed by seaweed pressings, fluid dynamics, spills, and fragments gathered on daily walks. These elements are translated into digital outlines and cut with a CNC machine, then altered by hand with paint, adhesive color gels, and embedded imagery—merging precision with improvisation. The resulting dimensional pieces function as spatial paintings.