ABOUT THE ARTIST
Larry Deep.
Larry Deep · Three-dimensional mixed-media artist
Where painting
meets sculpture.
I am a three-dimensional mixed-media artist. My work explores texture, depth, movement, and transformation.
With roots in ceramics, I bring a sculptor’s approach to painting. I combine copper, resin, metallic leaf, porcelain, wire, and acrylic to create richly layered surfaces.
I build outward from the canvas or panel, creating relief, repetition, shadow, and physical depth. My work often exists between painting and sculpture, revealing new qualities as the light and viewing angle change.
“After 45 years as a dentist, much of the careful work I did will never be seen. What I hope remains is reflected in the smiles of the thousands of patients I was fortunate and honored to care for. They placed their trust in my hands, and I have never taken that trust lightly. To every patient who allowed me to be part of their life, thank you. You gave those years their meaning.”
A conversation with materials
Experimentation is central to my practice. I layer, alter, age, suspend, repeat, and combine materials. Organic movement meets geometric structure; patina, reflection, and texture become part of the work’s expression.
Across porcelain, copper, sculptural poles, and painted surfaces, I return to nature, memory, time, transformation, and connectedness. I hope each piece invites a closer look, a step sideways, and another moment of discovery.
With Gratitude
My thanks go out to the many artists whose work Rima and I have collected, admired, and been inspired by over the years. I have been especially blessed that many of these remarkable artists also became friends, teachers, patients, and important influences in my life.
My wife, Rima, has been my partner in collecting their work. Her thoughtful eye and honest response to my art as it takes shape have been a continuing source of inspiration.
Each artist, in their own way, has contributed to how I see art and to the freedom I have found in creating my own work. Their ideas, craftsmanship, imagination, and friendship continue to influence my journey as an artist.
With gratitude, I acknowledge my Aunt Clara Mussafer, Jean-Jacques Gaudel, Cam Langley, Janis Kluge, Nall, Petru and Cora Botezatu, Frank Fleming, Dorothy Gillespie, Arthur Price, Mose Tolliver, Jimmy Lee Sudduth, Pat McNabb Martin, Tony Tully, Husam Ajluni, Dori DeCamillis, Scott Bennett and Gia McCollister.
Their work has enriched my life, and their influence lives on in the art I create today.
At this point in my life, I am not trying to build a career in art. I already had a career that I loved for forty-five years. Art occupies a different place in my life.
It is exploration.
It is curiosity.
And, perhaps most importantly, it is freedom.
“I don’t know exactly what I will make next.
And that may be the part I enjoy most.”
