Biography

From an early age Deborah Corsini was always drawn to making things from her first woven potholders to painting and printmaking. Growing up in an artistic family—her father was a renowned professional photographer and her mother a sculptor—their family house was filled with art, music, and many friends that were practicing artists. So it seemed natural that she would pursue an artistic career. An epiphany moment came (in 1971) when she walked into the weaving studios at Rhode Island School of Design and was seduced by the magic of the looms and the fascinating intertwining of the warps and wefts. It was then that she realized that this was the medium that she wanted to learn and explore. Weaving and all textile art forms, cultures, and history have continued to captivate and inspire her for an entire lifetime.

In her studio practice she focuses on tapestry and creates dynamic wedge weave and eccentric weave works. Her pieces are exhibited in national and international venues including the International Chinese Fiber Art Biennials and the American Tapestry Biennial. Her tapestries are included in the collections of U.S. Embassies in Sofia, Bulgaria, Astana, Kazakhstan, and Tblisi, Georgia as well as private and corporate collections.

As the former curator of the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles she created a wide variety of historical and contemporary fiber art exhibitions. Some exhibition highlights include: Beyond Knitting: Uncharted Stitches, Saturn Returns: Back to the Future of Fiber Art, Changing Landscapes: Contemporary Chinese Fiber Art, Hawaii's Alfred Shaheen: Fabric to Fashion, Scrap Art, and Milestones: Textiles of Transition. In an earlier textile career she was a textile designer and the Creative Director of P&B Textiles. She designed fabrics and collections for the quilt market and honed her understanding of color and appreciation for historic and contemporary quilts.

Active in the community she is a long time member of the American Tapestry Alliance, Tapestry Weavers West, Textile Society of America, Textile Arts Council, and the Surface Design Association. She teaches a tapestry weaving class at City College of San Francisco and workshops in wedge weave and natural dyeing.

As an advocate for contemporary fiber art she is excited about the renewed interest in the medium and the fascinating ways in which the field is developing.