Whorl

A Vertical Gallery Activation by Debra Fleury

September 19, 2026 - February 26, 2027

Opening Reception: October 6, 6 - 8 PM (RSVP appreciated)

Our inaugural Vertical Gallery Activation features a multi-media installation from Massachusetts artist Debra Fleury. Influenced by the human experience, Fleury’s work seeks to encourage exploration and evoke a sense of joy and wonder.

Translucent fabric has been painted in a watercolor effect and sewn together, creating channels and undulating patterns that are then filled with wire. Through this process “a hidden internal world is made visible, giving shape to what is deeply felt but not easily named.” The work’s suggestion of structure and mercurial nature constantly transforms the piece, allowing for a range of viewing experiences. 

Fleury’s installation evokes a sense of curiosity in the viewer as they explore and experience the energy and evolution of her work in her real time.

DEBRA FLEURY

Part magical playground, part psychological excision, Debra Fleury’s sculptural work pulls imagined structures from the place inside her where emotion, memory, and the unconscious converge. Abstraction and material play invite the viewer to inhabit imagined emotional landscapes. Fleury prefers working with materials such as clay, textiles, and metal that allow her to work intuitively and responsively. She creates a mutual shaping and revealing that emphasizes an interplay of control and surrender, where invention and the material guide each other. Through this process a hidden internal world is made visible, giving shape to what is deeply felt but not easily named.

Fleury earned a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design and an MFA from the Penn State School of Visual Arts. Fleury has exhibited at The Archie Bray Foundation (MT), The Workhouse Clay Arts Center (VA), Wayne Art Center (PA), The Clay Center of New Orleans (LA), and Highfield Hall and Gardens (MA), among others. In addition to her sculpture practice, Fleury has worked professionally in the field of human-centered design. She taught sculpture at Penn State University and package design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Fleury is currently developing a show for the Boston Sculptors Gallery. She resides in Malden, MA, and is a resident artist at Mudflat Studio in Somerville, MA.