Rhonda Smith: Walking on Rock and Water

October 15 - November 3, 2017
Reception: Sunday, October 15, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Smith’s large abstract paintings are inspired by the ancient relationship between rock and water. Rock and water  combine their strengths in a constant exchange of interdependent movements unseen and seen - molecular, tectonic, tidal and volcanic.
 
Artist Statement
Rock and water provide a moving meditation. When we walk or sail or paddle or run we are supported: solidity and gravity, buoyancy and fluidity. Together rock and water make the soil and waterways. All other experiences of the senses follow. Their relationship is ancient. They are an odd pairing, one recording the passage of time, one eschewing; one stalwart and the other mercurial; the vessel and the contents. They combine their strengths in a constant exchange of interdependent movements unseen and seen - molecular, tectonic, tidal and volcanic.
 
We move on these phenomenon daily without much recognition or gratefulness. And now with GPS we see a much flattened, unornamented representation of the two. The adventure getting lost is close to being forgotten.
 
 Chinese scholars’ rocks of Song dynasty times were selected stones brought inside a studio for contemplation. Unusual rocks, evocative of the age and grandeur of mountains and the pathways of water, might be viewed before composing a poem. My creations are in that spirit, that the viewer might project her or himself onto the surfaces in order to take a journey, extending the notion of maps and inviting a reverence for what is underneath us.
 
Artist Bio
Rhonda Smith’s exhibitions include: Schemata, a two person show at the Chandler Gallery Maud Morgan Arts, Cambridge, MA 2016; And There Was Matter, a solo show at Kingston Gallery, Boston MA 2014; Fragile Navigation, a four person exhibit at Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA 2012; and Particles and Waves a group exhibit at Iliad Contemporary, NY, NY 2012 She is part of the Boston, MA community of artists and works as well in southern Maine. Her work is in many corporate collections including Bio Med Realty, Cell Signaling, and Meditech.