Rhoda Kahler

View Rhoda's Work

Rhoda has been creating since she was a small child-even designing doll clothes and selling them for a nickel on the school bus.  Growing up on a farm, distant from any store, empowered her to create the amusements and clothing she wanted.  Being resourceful and inventive has helped her adapt to whatever means of creativity she has in front her.  Rhoda later went to school at York College and then transferred to West Chester University where she obtained a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in 1995.  She found herself working for clothing designers, interior decorators, jewelry makers and potters.  They were all influential and helped her grow as an artist.  She currently lives in West Chester, PA working as a practicing artist since 1998.   

Creative drive:
"Visual necessity drives me to create.  There is an internal force within me that speaks too loudly to ignore.  I need to create…it’s what I think about.   Looking at an open space and knowing I can make it more beautiful and having the means to enhance it, is powerful.  My art is my voice. "   

Key emotion represented in work:
"My work represents life’s haphazard moments choreographed together beautifully on a slab of clay, like the pieces of a puzzle, that tell a story. My work has a complexity that brings out emotions and nostalgia within the viewer when they can identify with the fragments of recognizable items within the piece.  Seeing these random things brought together to make a complete and sophisticated “whole.”

What is unique about your process:

"My process is unique because ordinary objects become my tools and my designs…however it may not be obvious at first.  Intentionally immersing these objects into the clay I create a cohesive landscape, building or design. My tools may be chopsticks, bobbins, pencil sharpeners or perhaps even the bottom of my shoe…nothing is off-limits."

Personal relationship with your work:
"Creating gives me joy.  I am able to share my thoughts and ideas through my work.  I become so engulfed that I forget everything around me and all of my energy is immersed into the piece.   It is what I think about and it is what I dream about."

Thoughts on sharing art:
"I believe we are all gifted in some way, and as a community, we need to share our gifts with each other in order to grow and succeed as a society.  It is comforting for me to know when someone has made a personal connection to my work and can relate to it."

Back to Meet the Artists