Rhonda Gates: Measured Ground

In Measured Ground, Rhonda Gates' paintings occur at the crossroads of the legacy of landscape painting, Minimalism, Neo-geo and a primal connection to nature — a reliance on its natural rhythms and a dependence on the gifts it proffers for our survival. Influenced by the minimalist abstractions of Agnes Martin and the poetic but direct and flat landscapes of Alex Katz, Gates embraces an internal recognition that she's an integral part of nature, a character in the drama. This connection compels a desire for authentic encounters as personal moments or places to be submerged as a catalyst for renewal and meditation.  

The landscapes serve as Gates' visual language to examine her experiences as an intrinsic participant in nature: Ephemeral qualities of light, the forces and energy of nature, and other elements interspersed within that experience. She then reduces her observations into simplified units, analyzing her human relationship to nature and the planet. Measured Ground provides an intimate exposure and poignant experience to contemporary landscape painting and serves as an entry point for internal restoration and contemplation.