“I’m obsessive and I have no roots, so I dig to find them, I dig into the ground, I dig into the body, I dig into nothingness…”
Name
Flora Deborah
Profession
Artist
Website
Who are you? What do you do?
I’m Flora Deborah, I’m an artist and I make things.
Where are you from?
Europe
Your style in 3 words?
Bodily, Earthly, Smelly
Your weakness? Your strength?
My impostor syndrome vs my curiosity for how things work.
What makes you different?
I’m obsessive and I have no roots, so I dig to find them, I dig into the ground, I dig into the body, I dig into nothingness – lots of digging all the time.
When did you decide to become an artist?
When in primary school I draw a pink sky and I was told off my teacher because the sky is blue.
What do you find most fascinating about your work?
The poetic yet humorous aspects of it and its physicality.
A few words about your favourite creation?
It is hard to choose between babies, but if I must, I would say it is a series of white shiny sculptures made out of my mother’s bellybutton and mine
Someone else’s work that inspired or inspires you…
Eva Hesse, I love her work viscerally and I’ve read her diary multiple times, I wish she had a longer life. But also Ragnar kjartansson, Mona Hatoum, Helen Chadwick, Ugo Rodinone and many more…
Who would you like to work with someday and why?
I’d like to collaborate with some bio scientists and discover where our practice meets.
A new project coming up or an idea you want to work on?
I’m working on a project about the impossibility to touch the sky.
Finish the sentence „More important than my career is…“
Having clean underwear every morning.
2020: Where are we going?
Towards the Apocalypse
When the going gets tough…
I re-read the letter that Sol wrote to Eva in 1965: “Just Do!”
Your city’s favourite spots?
I’m currently in Tel Aviv, and my favourite spots here are: Cafelix in Shlomo Hamelech street is the best coffee in town (I was raised in Italy, so I can be really picky with my coffee). Uganda bar in Jaffa road for gin and tonic, Arte in Nahalat Binyamin for ice cream. But to be honest the best spot in town is the beach.
Put on your future vision glasses: What direction is our generation moving in, what will our world look like in 50 years?
Earthquakes? Floods? Viruses?
What would you do if you could change the World?
Reinstitute barter as the main system of exchange
If the universe is everything and it’s expanding, what is it expanding into?
I can’t cope with this question, it gives me major anxiety
Tell us about your future plans…
I have a 3 months residency coming up at Atar, in the Jaffa Museum, this spring. So l’m looking forward playing over there.
Last but not least: what is your favourite Song?
Anything Tori Amos, if I must pick one: Cornflake Girl
One last statement please: „Wood or stone, gold or art?“
Stone!
Your #…?
