About
Biography
Rhonda Dee was born near the border of Texas and Mexico and is a dual citizen of both Australia and the U.S. Her artworks are concerned with identity and transformation and span a variety of mediums including sculpture, painting, installation, sound and public art.
Rhonda obtained her B.F.A. (honours) from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and her Master of Art degree (honours) from Sydney University. In 2019 she was awarded a Post Grad Cert in Psychotherapy from Torrens University which has helped her work in the mental health sector.
Rhonda’s art works can be found in permanent collection in Long Island University, NY, the Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Sao Paulo Brazil, Macquarie University Art Gallery, the Australia China Arts Foundation, as well as national and international private collections. Rhonda has produced several major exhibitions of her work at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Mclemoi Gallery, Macquarie University and her works are featured in publications including Artspiel New York, Artist Profile, The Art Life, Art Czar, Torrens University Blog, and Arts Hub Australia.
The arts are the major focus of her life and she has an unwavering belief in the power of creative expression as a positive transformative force for all
Artist Statement
We are all migrants continually traversing not only the spatial boundaries of continents and culture, but also the subcutaneous, internal geographies of body, emotion and psyche. My work concerns itself with this interiority and its relationship to the construction/deconstruction of identity. I am interested in the body as a site of transformation. Paintings on Mylar films suggest a metamorphosis into a realm of which, one can be only partially aware. Figures are caught between lives no longer what they were, yet not what will be. Within this zone of possibility, identity is challenged and desire ignited, pushing beyond the limits of form.
Forming for the City 4 | Acrylic on Mylar on Board | 60 x 45cm
Education
2018 Post Graduate Certificate Psychotherapy--Jansen Newman Institute, Torrens University, Pyrmont, NSW
2006 Master of Arts (Honors)--Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney
1991 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors)--Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA
1987 San Antonio College, USA—Sculpture, Painting, Drawing, San Antonio, TX
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Mirror Mirror on the River Hurstville Museum & Gallery, Hurstville, NSW
2022 Woodford Academy installation, Woodford, NSW
2014 Plundering the Verge, MCLEMOI Gallery, Sydney
2013 Vessels and Voyages, Incubate Gallery, Bankstown Art Centre
2011 Material Immaterial, Harrison Galleries, Sydney
2010 Second Nature, Artereal Gallery , Sydney
2009 The Incomplete Original, July 24-Sept. 6, Manly Art Gallery & Museum
2008 The Only Moving Thing, Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Sydney
2007 Dis-solutions, Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Sydney
2001 The map within, Cutcliffe Gallery, Sydney 1999 - Cutcliffe Gallery, Newtown, NSW
1998 Magnifica, MaudeSpace Gallery, Sydney 1997 - Homelands, Enzo Gallery, Sydney
1996 Emerging from the web (memories, shrines and dreams…)”, Gallery AD 163
Group Exhibitions
2023 Together or Otherwise (a)part, Articulate Project Space, Leichardt, NSW, Modern Art Project Blue Mountains group exhibition
2022 Cementa22, Carnivale Catastrophe, Combamalong Studios, Kandos, NSW
2020 Lost & Found, Yelo House, International contemporary ceramics exhibition Bangkok Thailand. (catalogue)
2020 Fishers Ghost Award, finalists exhibition, Campbelltown Art
2020 Lost & Found, International ceramic exhibition, Yelo House Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand
2018 Inspire, Bankstown Arts Centre, Bankstown
2017 Transmute, Gallery pompom, Sydney
2016 Friends Past and Present, Haven SBX Gallery, New York
2014 Close Encounters exhibition and performance, Urban Theatre Projects, Bankstown
2014 Creative Revisions, Macquarie University Art Gallery
2014 Macquarie University Art Gallery, Creative Revisions: - 50 years of artistic responses to the University campus. Department of Biological Sciences
2014 Field of Visions: Art and Astronomy, Macquarie University Art Gallery
2013 BEAMS Art Festival, Chippendale, Sydney
2013 Collection 4, Articulate Project Space, Sydney
2012 Shadows of a Nation, MCLEMOI Gallery, Sydney
2011 Walk on the Wildside, Harrison Galleries, Sydney
2010 Material Immaterial, Bruckner Art Gallery New York, NY
2010 A Book About Death, The Lunchbox Murders, Long Island, NY
2010 Um Livro Sobre a Morte, Museu Brasilerio da Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2006 Post Graduate Degree Show, Sydney College of the Arts, Sydney
2005 Record, Cornish College of the Arts Gallery, Seattle, WA
2002 Dattilo-Rubbo Memorial Exhibition, Manly Art Gallery & Museum
2001 Gallery artists, Cutcliffe Gallery, Sydney
2000 Elegant grandeur, Southwest Art Month, San Antonio, TX
Public Art
2022 Seeing with Hands Hearts and Eyes projects, Penrith Region. Magnetic Places Grant, supported by Penrith City Council
2019-20 Woven Voices, Magnetic Places Grant, supported by Penrith City Council, NSW
2019 A Little Bird Told Me, Penrith City Council, NSW.
2006 Webless Weavers Project, supported by Manly Council, Manly Art Gallery & Museum
2002 Wildworks Productions in the gallery, supported by Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Manly Council
2002 Body of Miracles/Body of Disasters Shrine, Manly Art Museum, Frameworks Project, supported by Manly Council
Artist Residencies
2022 Woodford Academy Artist Residency
2017 Blacktown Arts Centre Artist Residency
2015 Urban Theatre Projects, Sydney
2014 Macquarie University Department of Biological Sciences
2014 Bankstown Arts Centre, Artist Residency
Collections
Macquarie University Art Gallery
Australia China Arts Foundation (ACAF)
Museu Brasileiro de Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Long Island university New York
Forming for the City 7 | Acrylic on Mylar on Board | 60 x 45cm
Grants and Public Commissions
2019 Magnetic Places Grant, Penrith City Council
2014 Macquarie University Art Gallery commission
2009 Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Webless Weavers Project, Manly Council
2002 Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Frameworks Project, Manly Council
Awards
2020 Fishers Ghost Award, Finalist, Campbelltown Art Centre
2012 Wilson Art Award Finalist
2002 Warringah Art Prize Finalist
2001 Liverpool Art Prize Finalist
Collections
Macquarie University Art Gallery
Australia China Art Foundation (ACAF)
Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Long Island University, NY, USA
Public Art programs
2020 Children’s Parliament, Animation film project, Casula Powerhouse Art Centre in collaboration with Mission Australia
2020 Liverpool Regional Museum, Full of Life, Casula Powerhouse Art Centre
2018-19 Art for Wellness Program for mental health. Bankstown Art Centre, supported by Mental Health NSW and SWSLHD
2016 Art and Dementia program, Art facilitator/public speaking CPAC
2019-20 Access art for disability program, Casula Powerhouse Art Centre
2014-18 Supported Studio Program for Artists with Disabilities, Bankstown Arts Centre
2017 Access Art program for Cerebral Palsy, Casula Powerhouse Art Centre
2017 Children’s art classes, Fairfield City Art Museum
2014-20 Creative Painting & Drawing, Bankstown Art Centre, adult visual art facilitator
Public Speaking Engagements
2016 Frida Kahlo: Art Life Culture & Chocolate, Manly Art Museum/Arts Festival.
2015 Aesthetic technology: artistic engagement in the workplace, Macquarie University Art Gallery..
2012 GetSmart Creative Ageing Forum, Guest Speaker, Bankstown Art Centre withMargret Meagher, Arts & Health Australia, NSW, Ministerial Advisory Committee on Ageing
2014 Macquarie University Art Gallery, Artist talk
2009 Artist Talk – The Incomplete Original, Manly Art Gallery & Museum
2006 Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Webless Weavers Project, artist talk
Selected Bibliography
2020 Art Spiel, Artist’s on Coping, New York, NY Etty Yaniv, Interview by Melissa Stern
2018 Art Therapy: How a counselling graduate is transforming the mental health of her community, Torrens University Blog, Monday Oct. 15, 2018
2016 Manly Arts Festival Frida Kahlo presentation, The Brag Aug 19, 2016
2014 Fields of Vision: Art and Astronomy, Macquarie University Art Gallery, catalogue 2014 Creative Revisions: Retracing 50 years of artistic responses to the university campus, Macquarie University Art Gallery, catalogue
2014 Artist Profile Magazine Issue 26, 2014, Rhonda Dee: Interview with Sarah Vandepeer
2013 Vessels and Voyages, The Art Life Exhibitions Review, Andrew Frost Oct.11
2012 Shadows of a Nation, The Art Life Exhibitions Review, Andrew Frost Dec
2009 Tracey Clement, The Body as a Work in Progress. Catalogue essay, July 24
2018 Torrens University: Art therapy: How an artist and counselling graduate is transforming the mental health of her community. Alumni success stories/blog
2017 Blacktown Artist residency Interview with Emily Taggart 02/06/17
2014 Artist Profile Magazine, interview with Sarah Vanderpeer
2014 Fields of Vision, Macquarie University interview
2013 Andrew Frost, The Art Life, online interview Oct 11
2009 Rod Bennett, Body changes, interview, Arts/Entertainment, Manly Daily, July 30
2008 Manly Daily June 30, 2008 Dominique Seriser, ArtsHub Australia, exhibition review, Nov.5
2007 Clara Iaccarino, Review, Dis-solutions exhibition, Sydney Morning Herald, April 28-29
2006 Sue Hoban, Webless Weavers Project, exhibition interview, Manly Daily Sept.5
2005 Andrew Engelson, David Stoesz, ‘Record’ exhibition, review, Seattle Weekly, Visual Arts: Feb.9-15
2005 Adriana Grant, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, ‘Record’, exhibition review, Newsletter (Spring, 2005) : 8
1998 Julie Copeland, Arts Talk, ‘Homelands exhibition', interview, ABC Radio National April 12
