After 35 years of working with the figure as her primary subject matter, Adrian Deckbar has begun to explore the earth utilizing both land and water references in her work. These images are not to be confused with what is known as traditional landscape genre. They are psychologically and emotionally charged realist paintings and drawings, with a sense of drama, enhanced by strong oblique lighting and high contrast. Instead of a pastoral “scene” we are given imagery that is dramatic and too intense to simply contemplate. The intention is to reveal the threatening aspects of our world, which takes backstage in our busy lives.

Adrian is a New Orleans native, and currently lives and works in New Orleans, and Arkansas. She has Fine Art degrees from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (BA ‘73), San Francisco State University (MA ‘77), and Tulane University (MFA ‘81). Currently she teaches at Tulane University.

During her career, Adrian has had more than 31 one-person exhibitions, and has juried numerous shows, and exhibited in invitationals, where she has been honored with several awards. Traveling extensively, often leading sketching trips abroad, Adrian began to find material for her work on these trips. Through photography and sketching, she is able to garner images for large finished pieces which she creates in her studio. She currently references imagery from her two residences, the New Orleans outlying areas, swamps and bayous, as well as the Arkansas Ozark Mountains.

Adrian’s work is in numerous public and private collections, nationally and internationally, including The New Orleans Museum of Art, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, Breneau University, and the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.