Michael F. Rohde
After pursuing dual careers in biochemistry and weaving, Michael F. Rohde left behind his job as director of a biotechnology research lab in 1998 to devote full time to his work.
Weaving has been a fervent activity since 1973. Michael primarily creates flat woven fiber pieces as well as vessel forms. He enjoys working with this medium, having been drawn to the possibilities of relationships between subliminal texture and the interaction of light and color.
His formal training in drawing, color and design came from the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Over the years, Michael has taught, conducted lectures and workshops as well as organize and jury shows. He has exhibited his work in many local, national and international juried and invited shows.
Recent work has been included in the United States Department of State Art in Embassies Program, an exhibit at the American Craft Museum in New York, the invitational Triennial of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland, from Lausanne to Beijing, 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 and The Arts Institute of Chicago.
Photos by Andrew Neuhart
Artist Talk: Michael F. Rohde
Please join us for an artist talk by Michael F. Rohde and reception at the Craft in America Center from 5-7pm. Talk begins at 6pm. From Rugs and Patterns to Tapestries and Ideas, the Evolution of a Handweaver is in conjunction with the Looming Elections exhibition at the Craft in America Center.
Artist Talk
From Rugs and Patterns to Tapestries and Ideas, the Evolution of a Handweaver by Michael F. Rohde
Saturday, August 4, 2012
5pm – 7pm
Please RSVP: (323) 951-0610 or rsvp@.
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber. Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work. Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand. Michael F. Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color. Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.” And Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s outspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Reception: Looming Election: Woven Works
Please join us for the opening reception of Looming Election: Woven Works by Tanya Aguiñiga, Connie Lippert, Michael F. Rohde, Cameron Taylor-Brown, and Consuelo Jimenez Underwood. Opening reception and artist talk on Saturday, June 16, 2012 from 5-7pm.
Opening Reception
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition
Saturday, June 16, 2012
5pm – 7pm
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber. Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work. Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand. Michael F. Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color. Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.” And Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s outspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Tanya Aguiñiga is featured in the CROSSROADS episode.
Consuelo Jimenez Underwood is featured in the THREADS episode.
Artist Talk: Cameron Taylor-Brown
Please join us for artist talk by Cameron Taylor-Brown on Saturday June 16, 2012 at 6pm, and the opening reception of Looming Election: Woven Works at 5pm – 7pm.
Artist Talk
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition
Meet the artist Cameron Taylor-Brown
Saturday, June 16, 2012
6pm – 7pm
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
Works by Tanya Aguiñiga, Connie Lippert, Michael F. Rohde, Cameron Taylor-Brown, and Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber.
Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work.
Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand.
Michael Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color.
Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.”
Consuelo Jimenez Underwood‘soutspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Influences/Influencers: California Fibers
California has driven the fiber arts since the mid 20th Century. Countless schools, college programs, workshops, guilds, and artist collectives have led experimentation and development of this artistic medium. The desire to formulate a language for sculpture and expression through fiber has been a core driving force. The artists in this exhibition are part of a historic organization that has been at the forefront of contemporary fiber art in Southern California, across the state, and far beyond. The work in this exhibition represents some of the vast influences that are shaping fiber art today. It is simultaneously a celebration of how fiber has become a beam of influence on the broader contemporary art world in recent years.
Established in 1970, California Fibers started in San Diego as a work study group for the professional advancement of member artists. These years were an exuberant time when internationally, fiber artists were moving beyond historic practices into new realms of dimensionality, scale, and volume. Their unprecedented work embodied a vitality to move into the present and future through an understanding of traditional material and process. Female artists were lead voices in pursuit of this craft. They formed an entirely new field for contemporary art.
Echoing the principles of their medium, California Fibers was, and is, an intermeshed network of artists. They work in a range of fiber disciplines and techniques including weaving, quilting, embroidery, and basketry, which keeps their creative conversation expansive and diverse. This connectedness among artists and the collective spirit, rare among other parts of the art world, has helped push the medium forward. The organization is one of the longest running artist groups in the country. We are pleased to present this exhibition that showcases the breadth of their influential and innovative work.
Participating Artists
Sandy Abrams • Olivia Batchelder • Charlotte Bird • Ashley V. Blalock • Carrie Burckle • Marilyn Mckenzie Chaffee • Ben Cuevas • Doshi • Polly Jacobs Giacchina • Lydia Tjioe Hall • Susan Henry • Annette Heully • Anifaye Korngute • Kathy Nida • Liz Oliver • Marty O • Michael F. Rohde • Aneesa Shami Zizzo • Rebecca Smith • Cameron Taylor-Brown • Elise Vazelakis • Debra Weiss • Peggy Wiedemann
Virtual Gallery
Click and drag, or use your arrow keys, to see a 360º view of the virtual space, including tags with object information and images.
Textile Society of America Symposium
This weekend, fiber lovers in Los Angeles were aplenty: the Textile Society of America convened its 14th Biennial Symposium here, at UCLA and other venues including LACMA.
On Thursday, Craft in America’s very own Emily Zaiden, Director of the Center, delivered a talk on the history and impact of UCLA’s large-scale fiber show Deliberate Entanglements. Some of the 1971 exhibition’s attendees were present in the audience, as were its featured artists. It was a poignant convergence of past and present— not to mention on the same territory as the original exhibition, which was held at the UCLA Art Galleries.
Emily also moderated a panel she organized, Masculine Mystique: Men and Fiber Art, which brought together some of the most influential names in fiber, along with its innovators: Jim Bassler, Ben Cuevas, Joe Cunningham, Gerhardt Knodel and Michael F. Rohde. After each artist shared examples of their work (and some entertaining stories), they had a discussion with the audience about the gender politics of fiber and their own personal experiences as males working in fiber.
Open Invitational: Flag Share 2020 & Beyond
For this virtual exhibition, the Craft in America Center invited the public to create and share their own artistic vision of the future in the form of a flag that represents the character, aspirations, and ideals of their communities. This special project was inspired by the work of Victor De La Rosa and his Future Flags of America.
Live Flag Share:
Live Streamed on October 27, 2020.
Virtual Exhibition:
Nancy Billings:
Artist Statement:
“Democracy, Hanging By A Thread” is my visceral response to what is happening in our political arena since my individual voice cannot be heard till November 3, 2020. I am a textile, mixed media artist using fabric and stitching to create art.
For years I have been exploring the communication and responsiveness of each of us to each other through my “Hanging By A Thread” series. The layering of many fabrics represent how our emotions and personalities resonate with those around us, while the stitching reflects experiences and memories holding us together, some of which are loosely woven and some that are hanging by a thread. Each piece reflects life’s unique moments, depicting personal dynamics and links we each have with others. The individual…to individual, individual to the community, to the country and the world. The connecting threads look very delicate like relationships but in fact the actual stitching is quite strong hopefully like our relationships.
Catherine Chauvin:
Artist Statement:
I am interested in this project as a 54-year old white woman, who teaches art and is deeply concerned for our country at this time. I have been compelled to create this piece and the Craft in America call came out just after I completed this piece. Making artwork during the pandemic and Black Lives Matter and election season has been difficult, but this piece felt like it had to exist in this time.
My father was schizophrenic and died in 2004. He was buried in Riverside Cemetery in California due to research on the part of family, who felt his service to our nation should not be forgotten. The American flag given to families at a burial is of a different dimension than those usually flown and covers the casket. This is his flag.
My process of a low-tech rubbing of paper directly over the flag, results in raised areas (like the embroidered stars) being darker than less raised areas. This gray-scaled documentation of an object references headstone rubbings or memorializing the departed through the act of putting their name to paper through graphite.
The metaphor of something as iconic as the red, white and blue, becoming gray and faded is a powerful one for me and I see creating this piece as one of homage and concern, both for an individual and a republic.
Sean Connaughty:
Donna Dodson:
Artist Statement:
In my early work, I was inspired by pop artists like Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and I made a series of flags and other iconic images with painted shore crab shells that were arranged in distinct patterns and mounted on canvas. The one might be the most relevant to these times is Good Ole Boy. It is a version of the First flag of the Confederate States of America with the stars rearranged in the shape of a pink grin, and with black and white stripes. Its symbolism is meant to imply that what lies beneath the veneer of the smiling “Good Ole Boy” is racism and sexism which is meant to divide and conquer black and white Americans and to maintain power in the hands of white men. This is not an optimistic vision of the world I would like to live in. It is cynical, but I enter it as an act of transparency. As a white person, I have an obligation to call out white supremacy in my own community, family and country.
Jim Henderson:
Courtney Lester:
Artist Statement:
There is strength in kindness, just as there is life in death. Initially, I approached the creation of this flag as an anti-flag, a symbol of an ending rather than a beginning. This set the size of my flag, as it is the dimensions typical of one used to lay on the top of a closed casket. I realize that when I die, I will still be influencing those who remain whether I choose to or not. This flag aims to explores the contrast between self-perception and communal perception by utilizing childhood nostalgia alongside brutality.
Thomas Mann:
Artist Statement:
Flag of Dis-Union Are we on the brink Is democracy about to drink The elixir of DIS-UNION? Are we really this divided Is this the moment to be decided A tyrant or a savior I wave this flag with hopes we find RE-UNION! I wave this flag Just once Just now And hope its not FOREVER
Artist Statement:
On the Fourth of July this year, Home Alone Day 110, in an angst ridden funk about the condition of the world, our country and the effects Covid was having on ALL of US, and on our national holiday, and having been immersed for months in developing the themes for my next series of FLOAT construction works, and having read the 1619 Project and having a new perspective on the negative effects that slavery has had on the genetic history of the American culture, and reeling as we all did at George Floyd’s was murder in May, and having always had the idea that we, all of us on the planet, would never be a peace with each other until all of us had all of us in our DNA, which we basically all already do, and having made a having neon sculpture in the early 90’s titles, Racism is a Genetic Defect……I had the vision of a flag to replace the negative history ridden one we celebrate currently, so I designed this one hoping that it might speak to the diversity we truly are and have always been, with an all encompassing spirit of love and care for all…..
So this design has components of the past and the future which I think might express an acknowledgement of our past and our hopes for the future.
Michael Rohde:
Jessica Wohl:
Artist Statement:
This quilt, sewn entirely by hand, imagines what the American Flag might look like if we were a matriarchy instead of a patriarchy. It substitutes floral prints, pinks and purples for the white stars, implying a nation comprised of a colorful spectrum, where the “bars” start to give way to something more harmonious and beautiful.
Jody Zellen:
View this digital flag in motion by clicking here.
Student Submissions:
Craft in America Center invited LAUSD students from the Craft in Schools program to submit their own versions of flags for this exhibition. The gallery below will expand over time as those students submit their work:
The Craft in America Center is supported in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Craft in America Center is supported in part by a grant from the California Arts Council, a state agency. Learn more at www.arts.ca.gov
The Craft in America Center is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.
Artist Talk: Connie Lippert
Please join us for artist talks by Connie Lippert at 6pm at the Craft in America Center on Saturday, July 14, 2012 . Connie Lippert’s talk is titled Wedge Weave: Contemporary Interpretation of a Traditional Navajo Weaving Technique. This event is in conjunction with the Looming Elections exhibition at the Craft in America Center.
Artist Talk
Wedge Weave: Contemporary Interpretation of a Traditional Navajo Weaving Technique by Connie Lippert
Saturday, July 14, 2012
6pm – 7pm
Please RSVP: (323) 951-0610 or rsvp@craftinamerica.org.
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber. Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work. Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand. Michael F. Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color. Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.” And Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s outspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Artist Talk: Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
Please join us for an artist talk by Consuelo Jimenez Underwood and reception at the Craft in America Center from 5-7pm. Talk begins at 6pm. This event is in conjunction with the Looming Elections exhibition at the Craft in America Center.
Artist Talk
Meet the artist Consuelo Jimenez Underwood
Saturday, July 21, 2012
6pm – 7pm
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber. Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work. Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand. Michael F. Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color. Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.” And Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s outspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Consuelo Jimenez Underwood is featured in the THREADS episode.
Artist Talk: Tanya Aguiñiga
Please join us for an artist talk by Tanya Aguiniga and reception at the Craft in America Center from 5-7pm. Talk begins at 6pm. Tanya Aguiñiga discusses how her work is informed by border experiences, the interconnectedness of societies and the celebration of culture. She is dedicated to utilizing art for community empowerment, and she encourages us to reconsider the objects we use on a daily basis through her fiber and design endeavors. This event is in conjunction with the Looming Elections exhibition at the Craft in America Center.
Artist Talk
Meet the artist Tanya Aguiñiga
Saturday, August 18, 2012
5pm – 7pm
Looming Election: Woven Works Exhibition (June 16 – September 1, 2012)
In light of the imminent 2012 election, Craft in America proudly gathers together politically charged work by five contemporary textile innovators. This is a vast and varied group of exceptionally skilled artists who push the medium of fiber, and the traditional technique of weaving, into new realms. Their work redefines what weaving can be, in terms of method, material and meaning. Visually engulfing, boldly crafted, their messages speak loud and clear, causing us to reconsider the road our nation has paved and where we are heading.
Each of these five artists comes from a different aesthetic standpoint but they are unified by their desire to explore the expressive potential of fiber. Tanya Aguiñiga, who trained in furniture design, experiments with alternative weaving structures and explores concepts of border identity and ethnicity in her site-specific work. Connie Lippert is known for tapestries woven in the traditional Navajo wedge weave, here employed to map our world and question where we stand. Michael F. Rohde paints poetic, suggestive meditations on modern life in yarn, using strong geometry and vibrant color. Cameron Taylor-Brown uses the language of woven cloth to, in her words, “shape order out of chaos.” And Consuelo Jimenez Underwood’s outspoken works in fiber challenging our conceptions of ethnic politics and calling into question social and economic hierarchies that exist in American life.
Tanya Aguiñiga is featured in the CROSSROADS episode.