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For years, artist Valerie Deas’s website featured an image of a mixed-media piece depicting three women in striking shades of blue. A plea next to the artwork read, “Help bring The Three Women back home!”
When Deas passed away suddenly on September 2, 2023, this artwork was still missing, having been stolen from her storage space years before. Deas, a mother, grandmother, friend, textile and multimedia artist, and mentor to many, was touted by Mary Carson of Textile Artist as “the fabric whisperer.” In the wake of her death, Deas has remained in the hearts of all those she touched, and her art continues to bring people together in unexpected ways. It was one such connection made during her lifetime that would trigger the events that would bring The Three Women: A Dilemma of Identity back to Deas’s family.
In June 2023, Deas’s friend and media manager, Vivian Cotte, introduced her to Stephanie Cotsirilos, an author who was launching the second edition of her novella, My Xanthi, and needed cover art. Cotte felt that the Bronx-based artist and the Maine writer had powerful works that would make for a fantastic collaboration. She set up a Zoom: “Immediately Valerie and Stephanie could not stop thanking each other for their works. Valerie had read Stephanie’s novella and was so moved by it. It became a special connection between both of my clients, plus I believed that the launch of Stephanie’s book would also help bring Valerie’s painting home.” Deas had photographed The Three Women as she worked on it, and it was one of those photographs that was featured on the cover of Cotsirilos’s book.
On the afternoon of Friday, November 15, Cotsirilos received an email from Jonathan Morpurgo stating that The Three Women was in his friends’ apartment after being in his possession for some time. He wished to get in touch with the Deas family and respond to the plea on her website to bring the work of art home. Cotsirilos connected Cotte with Morpurgo, who put her in touch with the friends who had discovered the artwork on the street and gifted it to him, Todd “Tif” Fernandez, an activist and composer, and his husband Giovanni Miranda, an interior designer. Part of the artwork’s journey came to light.
Fernandez had found The Three Women on Seaman Avenue in Upper Manhattan: “I grabbed it to save it from the trash. It didn’t fit our decor, sadly, but I felt its power and could never let it go, even when trying to empty our place. I was planning to reach out to the artist, and our friend Jonathan saw it and we offered it to him.” Morpurgo accepted the artwork and for several years made a home for it at a supportive housing site in the Bronx where he volunteered. Planning to return the painting to his friends, Morpurgo researched the artist, which led him to her website and to Cotsirilos. “Coincidentally, where I volunteered is very near the site where Valerie’s memorial was held. I'm very excited to have it returned to the artist’s family.”
Fernandez remarked of Morpurgo, “Jonathan is a true connoisseur of art and books and he loves reusing special things—so this reunion is part of his magic. This work feels full of emotions and the spirits of the women are intense. I hope it finds a grand place of honor in a home full of powerful women. I would have liked to have met Valerie, and in part, feel I have.”
On Friday morning, November 22, the artwork made its way to the home of Cotte, who will reunite it with Deas’s daughter. Cotte noted: “I made Valerie two promises: (1) that her webpage and Stephanie’s book cover would bring The Three Women home, and (2) that I would hang her art exhibition while she was in her hospital bed. I was able to keep both. I am 100% positive she has been watching over all of us choreographing all of this like the true artist, dancer, and connector that she was.”
Deas also connected Cotte with Chrystina Casado, chef-owner of Brunch at Zion’s, who catered all of Deas’s art events and eventually her memorial service. Casado remarked about the return of the artwork: “It’s a testament to the lasting power of Valerie’s art and the love and respect it inspired in everyone who encountered it. The promises [Vivian] made to Valerie were not only heartfelt but prophetic.” She continued, “I truly believe that Valerie’s spirit is guiding this, ensuring her legacy lives on in the most meaningful ways.”
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