Artists Statement:
Debra Volkland is a true Kansan having been born in Abilene, Kansas (home of President Eisenhower), later living in Topeka, and now a resident of Olathe, Kansas for the last 27 years. Debra received her BFA from the University of Kansas where she explored several diverse disciplines of art. From painting to sculpture to fibers and textiles, Debra was intrigued by each medium, but not quite content in any "one" of them.

Upon graduation, she primarily painted. She developed a distinctive style using both realism and fantasy never letting Mother Nature's color pallet become dull. But, she missed the dimensionality and textures she had been able to include in her work with some of the other mediums. A compromise was eventually reached utilizing a much beloved medium she had enjoyed from childhood and never practiced at any place of higher education: paper sculpture.

Soon, she was exclusively working in paper sculpture with white on white constructions of her own design. Her new approach achieved great movement and drama which she had felt was missing from her earlier 2 dimensional designs. But, she missed the "color" of her paintings.

The process of building with paper was extremely rewarding to Debra personally and the work itself received acceptance along with critical approval. It also be-came apparent there are few others pursuing this medium as an art form in the United States. It's most pervasive use was as an advertising medium and was primarily built to last through a photo shoot only - then trashed. Debra is extremely conscious of using archival quality materials in her constructions because she wants them to last "Till way after a time when I am gone."

During her early twenties and thirties, Debra worked with an Art Restorer, Mary Follett and later as an Associate in the Nelson Art Gallery's restoration lab. It would have been a much more traditional career to have become an art restorer. "But, to only work on pieces created by others wouldn't have been nearly as exciting as creating my own." Debra responded when questioned on this issue.

It was only a matter of time before her vivid and brilliantly colored painting style became incorporated into her paper sculptures. She was fearful that the color would detract from the structural purity of the white on white images, but instead the new, color sculptures exploded with life of their own. The resultant sculptures seem to breath and move as they throw their own continually changing shadows throughout the day.

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