RD Artist Statement
Artist Statement
Born and raised near the Laurentian Divide in northern Minnesota, water has always been at the center of my work. Its shifting formations in the atmosphere, the way that sunlight bounces off it in its many forms, and always how it changes the colors of the world around me.
My artwork takes many forms – I paint with oils and watercolors, I draw with pen and ink, charcoal, and pencil, I also weave working both on large multi-harness floor looms, tapestry looms, small inkle looms, and even off loom, I design and sew clothing from my own patterns, and do beadwork and leather crafts. I make paper and then draw on it. At the base of all of these art forms is my understanding of water and what it can do and how it shapes our world and who we are in that world. I see it in the landscapes and cloudscapes around me each day and find beauty in how it piles into thunderheads that rampage across that landscape, both threatening and nourishing our world with its presence.
The landscapes of New Mexico drew me to the Mesilla Valley where I find inspiration in the grandeur of the diverse mountain ranges and the evidence of ancient water ways. This continues to inspire my work in the many mediums I participate in, but most evident in the oil paintings in my recent body of work titled “Turbulence” focusing on the dynamics between the mountains and sky of the southwest desert. I am currently expanding on this work by exploring different mediums in the same series of images. I am incorporating drawing with pencil, ink, and markers and collaging that with oil painting or with collaged leather images that brings depth and texture to drawings on paper and oil on canvas.
Current Exhibition
Current works hung at Bikewyrks Bike Shop & Art Gallery include works from Rhonda Dass from the Turbulence series including the landscapes focusing on the dynamics between mountains and clouds, a set of images exploring the balance of light during daybreak and dusk, and premiering a new set of works exploring the use of mediums to express turbulence in the landscape. This series is now on view and is a collection of collage works highlighting the use of leather and paper to explore textures and light.