Deborah Klein was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1951 and grew up in the coastal suburb of St Kilda. In 1973 she moved to London, where she lived and worked until her return to Melbourne in 1980. Between 2011 - 2019 her practice was divided between Melbourne and Ballarat in south-western Victoria. She moved permanently to Ballarat in late 2019.
The artist gained degree and post degree qualifications from Chisholm Institute of Technology, Melbourne and Gippsland School of Advanced Education and a Research MA from Monash University, Gippsland.
From 1987 she has held regular solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions in Australia and internationally. Her work is represented in numerous public and university museum collections.
In 2008 the survey show Deborah Klein: Out of the Past 1995-2007 toured to Castlemaine Art Gallery and Historical Museum, the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Warrnambool Art Gallery and Deakin University Art Gallery, Victoria.
Klein's practice encompasses painting, drawing, printmaking and book art. In 2009 she founded Moth Woman Press, through which she publishes her limited-edition books and zines.
Other activities have included sessional lecturing in the Printmaking and Drawing Departments at RMIT University, Melbourne (1999-2008).
Awards, commissions and residencies include:
Artist in Residence, Geelong Grammar School, Vic, 2022;
2020 APW George Collie Memorial Print Award, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne;
Melbourne Athenaeum Library Artist in Residence, 2018;
Artist in Residence, The Art Vault, Mildura, Vic (2017, 2014, 2011, 2009);
Print Council of Australia Print Commission (2017, 2010, 1998, 1986);
Winsor and Newton Global Ambassador, Winsor and Newton Australia, 2016;
Special Guest Artist, Nature in Print, Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne 2014;
Printmaker in Residence, RMIT TAFE, Melbourne (2007);
Small Tapestries, Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne (2007);
Fleming Muntz Albury Art Prize (2002);
Rena Ellen Jones Memorial Print Award (1999,1998, 1997);
Jacaranda Drawing Prize (1998, 1996);
Grand Prize, Silk Cut Award for Linocut Printmaking (1997);
Geelong Acquisitive Print Prize (1997);
Australian Printmedia Award, University of Western Sydney, Macarthur (1997, 1996);
Artist in Residence, National Gallery of Victoria (1996);
Monash Graduate Scholarship (1995);
Australia Council Studio Residency, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris (1993).
© The copyright of all images and text on this website, with the exception of the content of referred links and reviews, is the property of Deborah Klein. Material may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the artist, Deborah Klein ~ Website Design:Jupiter Ray Consulting