Bio
Artist Statement
I approach the canvas like I do life for the most part: with an osmotic process. Osmosis is the movement of a solvent through a semipermeable membrane. I begin by thrashing bright and bold colors onto the canvas with great fervor and raw emotional movement and then let the image cull naturally through the abstract textures. It’s not a perfect process. I do not plan the final image and so the results widely vary but they always find their way to the surface.
The inspiration behind my works manifest from daily life energy and experiences. I gravitate toward ornithology, insects, floral and figurative subjects. I am a self-taught artist and as such, I have moved through a myriad of styles and subjects with the majority of my works falling loosely into the expressionism category. My recent works tend toward a more realistic approach which requires a greater amount of patience rendering the practice a complete meditative cycle. I start with chaos and end with calm.
Debbee Lotito is an autodidact painter from Detroit, Michigan. Her creative practice focuses on fowl, figurative and floral expressionism.
Lotito’s consistently stunning work is characterised by highly textured pieces accentuated by chaotic strokes of colors with organic figuration and translucent, bleeding waves of color. She says, “I enjoy exploring the relationship between various color harmonies and surface textures.”
Lotito uses a variety of analogue tools to produce her work, including acrylic, watercolor, pencil and ink. Her favorite media are acrylics and watercolor because their fast-drying qualities allow her to work quickly and intuitively. Her works are whimsical, expressive and engage the viewer via a lucid reservoir of imagination.
She draws inspiration from a variety of artists, both established and emerging, “Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollock would be some artists that I draw inspiration from but just the same, I look to ‘unknown’ artists and find inspiration with their energy as well.”
She earned her degree in graphic and web design from Schoolcraft College, Livonia, Michigan. Her work is widely exhibited throughout the USA and published internationally. Between 2010 and 2021 she hosted five solo exhibitions and participated in 45 group shows, with the majority occurring in Detroit, Michigan. She continues to maintain an active studio and welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with new clients.