About the work:

 

The medium in which I choose to work is fiber, primarily flat woven  pieces, but lately including vessel forms. I’ve picked this less than common  medium, having been drawn to the possibilities of relationships between  subliminal texture and the interaction of light and color.  Having taken this route, the weavings can become an embodiment of  the freedom to explore how colors relate to each other and to the surface  properties of the fibers used. Pure color and specific color combinations  of color have the power to speak to each of us, often producing differing  responses in each person. By limiting the vocabulary  to color and woven texture, the works are  better able to stimulate reactions and  emotions that these raw color and  spatial relationships can have on the viewer. 

 

Recent pieces of work over the  last several years have addressed the  impact of human and natural causes  on the homes and lives of people. These  include houses that disappear into the  sands of war, are filled with rising flood waters,  or simply vanish as the natural consequence of time.  Yet, without the foreknowledge of what is behind the creation of these  images, the works stand as objects of quiet beauty: begun with white yarns  of wool, silk, linen and other fibers, I add my own dyes to achieve a range  of colors and contrast not available in commercially dyed materials. Like a  painter, I mix my own colors to create something new.

 

About the artist:

 

After pursuing dual careers in biochemistry and weaving, I left behind  a job as director of a biotechnology research lab in 1998 to devote full  time to this work. Weaving has been a fervent activity since 1973. Formal  training in drawing, color, and design came from the Alfred Glassel School  of the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. Over the years, activities included  lectures, workshop teaching, juror, show organizer, and exhibitor in many  local, national and international juried and invited shows.

 

Recently work has been included in the United States Department  of State Art in Embassies Program, exhibits at the Textile Museum in  Washington, DC, the American Craft Museum in New York, the invitational  Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland, from Lausanne to Beijing (twice),  Houses for Nomads (a solo exhibit at the Janina Monkute-Marks Museum  in Lithuania), an exhibition at the Mingei International Museum in Balboa  Park in San Diego, and the permanent collections of the Mingei, the San  Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the Ventura County Museum of Art,  and The Art Institute of Chicago.

 

— Michael F. Rohde

 

Exhibit Schedule:

Weavings by Michael Rohde is open to the public  Sundays in October from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Artist's Opening Reception,  Sunday, October 6, 2013, noon - 1:30 p.m.
Artist's Closing Reception,  Sunday, October 27, 2013, noon - 1:30 p.m.
Weekdays by appointment - contact  Nancy in the church office at  310-829-5436, ext. 102 or       assistant@uusm.org