Biography
Rexrode is a multidisciplinary artist who examines critical social issues through projects incorporating traditional methods of craft and materials from the home.
Rexrode received her BA from Dickinson College, PA, and her MFA from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC. Rexrode completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center on an artist’s merit grant and is a recipient of the Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artist Grant and the NC Arts Council’s Artist Support Grant. Her work has been reviewed by publications such as BURNAWAY and ArtsATL and was featured in the digital publication Matrons & Mistresses, founded by Elizabeth Mathis Cheatham.
Rexrode currently resides in Chapel Hill, NC, and has exhibited nationally, including at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC; Mint Museum UPTOWN, Charlotte, NC; ArtFields, Lake City, SC; Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO and SouthFirst Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. Rexrode is currently the Curator of Exhibitions and Collections with the City of Raleigh in North Carolina.
My practice explores material and cultural values, the affirmation of labor, and the role of the artist’s hand in the production of objects.
Each body of work presents correlations of the subject matter across material and form. The material choices and methods represent the marginalized, discarded, disregarded, and domestic by showing relationships between the historical and the contemporary and alluding to the destructive patterns of human behavior that repeat themselves over time. I incorporate traditional methods of craft such as crochet and materials from the home that are often overlooked or discarded, including silk flowers, plastic plates, and plastic household recyclables, to emphasize this topic. My use of various media calls for an examination of the perception of materials and the meaning and hierarchies of value often associated with them. Throughout my exploration, I often use the flower as a metaphor, representing femininity, feminism, birth, and mortality. Making my artist’s mark with these materials also embraces the positive aspects of women’s history as makers and references the domestic sphere. My material and conceptual choices often involve women’s issues and their perceived value in society.
Through my multi-media approach, I reinforce the position that there are meaningful connections between how society views women and marginalized individuals and how it treats the natural environment.
Artist Statement
