About

Bio
Debbee Lotito is a self-taught painter based in Detroit, Michigan, whose artistic voice is defined by richly textured expressionism and evocative figuration. Her creative focus centers around fowl, figurative, and floral subjects—transformed through vibrant, dynamic layers of paint and emotion.

Artistic Approach
Lotito’s process begins instinctively: bold, chaotic layers of color laid down swiftly, allowing emotion to guide her palette. Only then does she refine a central subject—often birds or botanical forms—through a meditative, detail-driven layering of realism atop abstraction. This rhythmic transition from chaos to calm exemplifies her unique method. Her work often features translucent washes, organic shapes, and intensity of texture, engaging viewers in a vivid, imaginative conversation.

Media & Materials
Employing acrylics, watercolors, pencils, ink, and pastels, Lotito prefers acrylics and watercolor for their fast-drying, intuitive adaptability. These allow her to work with immediacy and spontaneity, enriching both the texture and emotional energy of her pieces.

Inspiration & Influences
She draws creative impulses from celebrated artists such as Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock. However, she is equally inspired by emerging and unknown artists—whose raw energy and creative spirit invigorate her own work.

Education & Exhibitions
Lotito holds a degree in graphic and web design from Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan. Her artwork has been exhibited widely across the United States and featured internationally. Between 2010 and 2021, she presented five solo exhibitions and participated in 45 group shows, predominantly in Detroit but also reaching audiences in New York and California.

Notable Solo Exhibitions

Include:

2015 – Paintings, Artifact Gallery, New York, NY
2017 – The Fantastical Realm of (My) Imagination, Studio 8700, Oak Park, MI
2018 – Unfinished: Existing On Its Own, Studio 8700, Oak Park, MI
2019 – Flora and Fauna, Hortulus Gardens, Lathrup Village, MI
2019 – Avant Garden, Studio 8700, Oak Park, MI

Publications & Media Recognition
Lotito’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including:

This Is A Test, The Sketchbook Project (Brooklyn Art Library, 2021)
Curatorial Volume 2: Leaders in Contemporary Art, Capsules Book (Melbourne, Australia)
House & Garden Magazine – The Art Edit (Jan 2019)
Women In Art278 Magazine (Jan 2018)
Contemporary Art Curator (Jan 2018)
Hidden Treasures Art Magazine Yearbook, Vol. II (Aug 2014)
International Contemporary Artist Book, Vol. VII (May 2014)

Current Studio Practice
Debbee Lotito continues to maintain an active studio practice. Her work invites collaborative opportunities and commissions, welcoming new clients and creative partnerships.

Artist Statement

My work is an exploration of the balance between chaos and calm. Each painting begins in an instinctive flurry—marks, splashes, and layers laid down with urgency, guided only by emotion and rhythm. From this raw and unrefined surface, I draw out form, coaxing birds, flowers, and figures into being. What emerges is both familiar and fantastical: a space where imagination, memory, and nature converge.

I am drawn to fowl, floral, and figurative subjects because they carry symbolism as well as story. Birds often represent freedom, resilience, and fragility; flowers embody both delicacy and strength; the human form mirrors our inner landscapes. By layering realism over abstraction, I allow these subjects to live between worlds—anchored in recognizable form but still surrounded by mystery and movement.

Texture and color are central to my language. Acrylics and watercolor, with their immediacy and unpredictability, give me the freedom to respond to each moment on the canvas. I embrace translucence, intensity, and the unexpected interactions of paint. The process is meditative: as I refine details over earlier chaos, I discover balance, rhythm, and quiet clarity.

I am inspired by the masters—Dalí, Kahlo, Picasso, Warhol, Pollock—but equally by the raw, unfiltered creativity of emerging and unknown artists. Art, to me, is a dialogue between the seen and the unseen, between artist and viewer, between the initial impulse and the final form.

Ultimately, my work is an invitation: to look closer, to linger, to feel. Each piece asks the viewer to step into a layered space of imagination and emotion, where the ordinary is transformed into something extraordinary.

Media & Materials Employing acrylics, watercolors, pencils, ink, and pastels, Lotito prefers acrylics and watercolor for their fast-drying, intuitive adaptability. These allow her to work with immediacy and spontaneity, enriching both the texture and emotional energy of her pieces.

Inspiration & Influences She draws creative impulses from celebrated artists such as Salvador Dalí, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Jackson Pollock. However, she is equally inspired by emerging and unknown artists—whose raw energy and creative spirit invigorate her own work.