Deborah Kommalan Biography and Paintings

Deborah Kommalan is a Maryland oil painter, a rising star with multiple invitations to exhibit her trompe l’oeil - like still lifes and her kinetic (in motion) still lifes.

Deborah was born in Baltimore. She graduated from Maryland Institute, College of Art in 1970 focusing on graphic design. After a forty-year hiatus she began a seven year course of study in fine art at AACC with painters including Leonard Koscianski and Lillian Bayley Hoover. She also studied with Anthony Waichulis at the noted Ani Academy in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Deborah recently received two first place awards in shows at the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis, MD as well as the Caruso Award for her still lifes. She has exhibited in Art Space at BWI Airport, University of Maryland Medical Center and Quiet Waters Park, among other venues. In 2013 and again in 2014 she took first place at the UMMC show, which is associated with the National Arts Program.

She frequents the National Gallery of Art to study and emulate some of the great master painters on exhibit. She paints in a variety of styles while continuing to fine tune her own unique photo realist style. Her preferred medium is oil.

Currently, she is painting photo-realist still lifes with a strong leaning to tenebrism and parking signs, two very different subjects. She invites you to take a closer look at these everyday subjects.

Deborah Kommalan is a member of the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis, MD.

Art Term Definitions
Tenebrism - (from the Italian word "tenebroso" meaning dark) describes a style of painting characterized by deep shadows and a distinct contrast between light and dark areas.
Kinetic art – (derived from the Greek word kinesis) refers to works that incorporate real or apparent movement exploring how objects look when in motion.

Deborah Kommalan

Photo Realism: Modern and Kinetic Still Life

Deborah Kommalan Biography