Color As Time – Migration As Clock

Artist Statement:

I have studied Josef Albers’s writings and work samples on color theory. During a two-month residency at the Albers Foundation in Bethany, CT, in 2016, I developed methods for working on clear acrylic supports that allow colors to interact with shifting light, altering their hue and temperature more dynamically than on an opaque surface. I have also been strongly influenced by the conceptual work of John Cage. Combining these influences, I examine color change over time in a specific location as a means to visualize time—landscape as four seasons, a range of hue shifts.

As I collect color from a place across months and years, I am reminded of Albers’s statement speaking about the profound harmony in the immeasurable spectrum of color “Independent of harmony rules, any color ‘goes’ or ‘works’ with any other color, presupposing that their quantities are appropriate.”   

Continuing this color-as-time exploration, an ongoing series of abstract paintings captures the plumage colors of migratory birds in Central Park, NYC, over the course of a year. Each species spends a predictable interval in the park twice annually while seeking food and nesting sites. The paintings accurately render each bird’s color palette while suggesting distinctive characteristics such as plumage patterns. In collaboration with nature, I take note of the evolving cycle of migration; the series acknowledges the fragile state of our environment; each painting functions as a tribute to a species and a reminder of the delicate balance that sustains life.

Debra Ramsay is an artist working in the disciplines of abstract painting, drawing, and installation. She maintains a full-time studio practice in New York City. Ramsay has exhibited her work internationally for over three decades, including in Denmark, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Solo exhibitions in the United States include the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, NJ, 2024, Starr Suites, Brooklyn, NY, Brattleboro Museum in Brattleboro, VT, 2017; Odetta Gallery, Brooklyn, and 57 W 57th Arts, NY, 2016. Additional recent exhibitions include A Field Guide to Birds at the Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY, 2024, Mere Reflection at Marquee Projects, Bellport, NY, 2022, in 2021: Yi Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, (de)coding at the Visual Arts Center of NJ,  and Embody at the Ely Center for Contemporary Art in New Haven. Ramsay has been invited to several residencies, including two residencies at the Golden Foundation in New York, in 2013 and 2018, at the Albers Foundation, in 2016, and a fellowship at BAU Institute in Italy, in 2012. Her work is in the Hofstra University Museum of Art and Brooklyn College collections. In 2020, Ramsay was the featured visual artist in The Cincinnati Review, and in 2017 her work was included in an exhibition and publication of the same name, Chromotopia: An Illustrated History of Colour. Thames and Hudson published the book by David Coles.