dharma strasser maccoll

press

"Strasser MacColl has consistently explored clay...in unusual ways. In this body of two dimensional works, she has combined porcelain with paper and silk thread. The porcelain often appears as tiny discs or as ovoids which appear as holes cut from a sheet of paper that is hung loosely over an uncut sheet. Unlike the solid color works of such artists as Ellsworth Kelly, Strasser MacColl activates and texturizes surfaces with her ubiquitous white shapes. Her exhibitions interest critiques and collectors because the body of work in each show is different, the result of always pushing boundaries of materials and concepts. The forms her pieces take and her themes vary, but her spirited ideas are always evident and compelling."

Lois Allen, ARTWEEK, February 2006

"Looking back on her work of the late 90's, she seems to have been working toward this exquisite, almost Asiatic stage of wall hangings and collage-type pieces. Most of all the artist wants to confront and transform. With each show, Strasser MacColl asks: What will I become next?"

D.K. Row, OREGONIAN, November 2005

"Dharma Strasser MacColl of San Francisco has a show of delicious white-on-white works. They consist of tiny, asymmetrical pieces of porcelain that have two holes each, like buttons. She sews them onto paper with fine white silk. There are also paper-on-paper versions of these mesmerizing works, and ones where large torn holes have been hemmed, again by hand. Meticulous, but not obsessive and there is a difference."

Joseph Gallivan, Portland Tribune

November 2005

"Her quick rise to prominence hasn't seduced her into easy repetitions of her early successes. She continues to expand her repertoire of forms and ideas, but without moving very far from her basic cool aesthetic."

Lois Allen, ARTWEEK, February 2001

2005
Review, Artweek, San Jose, CA. February issue
Ceramic Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, The Oregonian, Portland,OR. November 25

2004
Critic‘s Pic., The Oregonian, Portland,OR. April 1

2002
Human Histories: Recent Work by Kate Blacklock and Dharma Strasser, Ceramics Monthly, January issue

2001
Review, Artweek, San Jose, CA. February issue

2000
Working in Series, The Oregonian, Portland, OR. December 22

1999
Finding a Sense of Space, The Oregonian, Portland, OR. July 16
Up Front, Ceramics Monthly, January issue
1998
Portfolio, American Craft, October/November issue

1997
Dharma‘s Ascent, D.K. Row, Willamette Week, Portland, OR. December 10
Serial Forms, Serious Art, Jonathan Raymond, The Oregonian, Portland, OR., December 12
Can-Do Kanjo, D. K. Row, Willamette Week, Portland, OR. August 27
Out On a Limb, Jonathan Raymond, The Oregonian, Portland, OR. August 22