Working in the medium of woven textiles, I use my tools to observe and comment on what I see. These observations come from news of world events, travels and study of ancient and traditional art forms. By employing simple, iconic geometry and strong colors, there is room left to contemplate what is not there and not explicitly stated.

Recent pieces of work over the last several years have addressed the impact of human and natural causes on the homes and lives of people. These include houses that disappear into the sands of war, are filled with rising flood waters or simply vanish as the natural consequence of time.

Yet, without the foreknowledge of what is behind the creation of these images, the works stand as objects of quiet beauty: begun with white yarns of wool, silk, linen and other fibers, I add my own dyes to achieve a range colors and contrast not available in commercially dyed materials. Like a painter, I mix my own colors to create something new.

One recent body of work (Houses for Nomads) came from a month long trip to the remote grasslands of Tibet, where the old ways are rapidly changing, with roads being built, grazing pastures being fenced, and houses being built to settle the nomadic peoples. Amongst all this, the prayer flags still hang, blow in the wind and slowly disintegrate to fragments of the fibers from which they were made.

Michael F. Rohde© All Rights Reserved * All photos by Andrew Neuhart
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