About
Dharma Strasser MacColl explores a variety of mediums to create sculptural works on paper. Taking inspiration from both micro and macro forms in nature, her most recent work investigates adaptations in northern California plant life. Strasser MacColl grew up in Portland, Oregon. She studied painting and drawing in Italy and went on to receive her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art in ceramic sculpture. She has taught at Mills College, California College of the Arts and City College of San Francisco. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, and she is represented by Traywick Contemporary in the Bay Area and Augen Gallery in Portland, Oregon. Her work is included in public and private collections including The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Berkeley Art Museum, the Fidelity Collection, Microsoft, and the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She works in Sausalito and lives in Mill Valley with her husband and three children.
Statement
” I look closely at the complex patterning found in our natural environment to inform my work. From the precision and iteration in animal architecture, cellular biology and succulents, to the wild fecundity of roadside brambles, the dychotomies presented by our natural world inspire my investigations . Japanese woodcuts, decorative arts patterning, and textile design also influence both the simplicity of line and the textural experimentation.
My most recent work uses native plant forms as a springboard for an exploration of change and mutation in the draught ridden Californian environment. With an interest in the hardy, street-dwelling plants that are thriving in our altered climate, I collect and document these specimens, unfaithfully reproducing them back in the studio.
By joining disparate forms, manipulating color and texture, repeating patterns and adding sculptural elements, a series of fictitious plants emerge whose recognizable elements from botany evolve into new and unexpected species. The final images are a hybrid between a known and invented natural world. ”
Process
My long history as a sculptor guides the many material considerations in the work. I’m interested in manipulating materials which have a fixed and known purpose, and recontextualizing them, so that they adopt their own unique purpose.
Many of the pieces incorporate hand formed and kiln fired porcelain pieces, which are made in the hundreds. Paper-thin pieces of leather, barb from feathers, and cut felt are also amassed to create sculptural building blocks, which I sew and glue to the painted surface. The hand is ever present in these forms, from the fingerprint on the porcelain to the unique and irregular line of sewn thread. By slowly layering material, forms emerge and grow from the two dimensional surface. The results are a hybrid between painting and sculpture, and follow my own trajectory from ceramic sculpture to mixed media on paper.