Rachelle Gardner-Roe
Rachelle Gardner-Roe Artist Biography
Rachelle Gardner-Roe has been working as an artist in Kansas City for 13 years. She grew up in the rural countryside outside of Adrian, MO and received a Bachelors in Interior Architecture from Kansas State University in 2004. This background in design allowed her to explore various media through a lifelong interest in fine art. She has exhibited regionally and nationally, including The Mulvane Art Museum, The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, The Leedy-Voulkos Art Center and The Chautauqua Institution, among others. In the Kansas City metro area, her work can be found at Weinberger Fine Art and The Bunker Center for the Arts. Gardner-Roe lives and works in Mission, KS.
Artist Statement “I am focused on non-traditional approaches to lacework and textiles — literally, figuratively and sculpturally. This subject has become a means of re-contextualizing ‘women’s work’ through blending historical craft and the generational passing down of knowledge with contemporary practice. The human scale is the most relevant to my practice and memory, with all its defining power and inescapable flaws, also plays an important role. My interest in the exploration of consciousness and perception also often comes into play. Both my rural Missouri roots and a degree in Interior Architecture influence my research and exploratory processes, resulting in intricate textile drawings, as well as dynamic sculpture. The forms in Portal eschew the traditional square in favor of the circle and the viewer may recognize some of the imagery of plants, flowers, animals, and bones representing my countless fragmented memories of growing up in rural Missouri. Portal brings viewers back to the literal textile by utilizing the sewing machine as a drawing tool infused with my particular method of lacemaking with a notable addition — a thin layer of handdyed wool, sourced from the Gardner family farm, trapped between the threads. The resultant riotous, swirling color celebrates both beauty and decay and creates a portal into the artist’s memory. This in turn functions as a melding of historical handcraft, contemporary textile practice, and a Midwestern regionalism that refuses to ignore ruralism in favor of urban city- life.”
Memory Portal No 6 thread, silk, hand dyed Shetland wool on sculpted foam 74 x 74 x 7 inches $11,000
Memory Portal No 2 thread, and hand dyed Shetland wool on sculpted foam 33 x 40 x 6 inches $3,000 SOLD
Memory Portal No 3 thread, silk, and hand dyed Shetland wool 42 x 38 x 7 inches $3,500
Minds Window GROW No 2 thread, silk, and hand dyed wool 26 x 26 inches $2,500
Minds Window GROW No 1 thread, silk, and hand dyed wool 26 x 26 inches $2,500
Mind’s Window No 2 thread, and wool 26 x 26 inches $2,500
Memory Stratum No 1-I Named Him Skyler thread, hand dyed Shetland wool, and silk 19 x 19 inches $900
Minds Window Pane (Jewel Canopy) thread, hand dyed Shetland and Angora wools 9.75 x 13.75 inches $550