Collage and Assemblage: The Art of Leah Rhodes” Solo Show. October 11th through November 15th, 2014. Opening Reception, Saturday October 11th, 5-7pm, in conjunction with Catskill’s Second Saturday Stroll. GCCA Catskill Gallery, 398 Main Street, Catskill, NY. Gallery Hours: M-F 10-5, Sat. 12-5. FREE.

The exhibition will include a collection of Leah Rhodes’ collages and assemblages simultaneously on view with the group exhibition “Rock, Paper, Scissor.”

Rhodes’ Athens studio features three rooms that increase in size and impact as visitors walk through. Every table and wall surface is covered with artwork, tiles, magazine clippings, figurines, driftwood, snake skins and bric-a-brac. Rhodes is a determined yet calm force in the center– the woman responsible for an exhibition career of nearly six decades.

From the fifty linoleum tiles she bought for a few dollars before a landlord threw them out to small tin milagros from Mexico to strips of bark, Rhodes has been collecting materials that inspire her and crafting them into exquisite micro worlds. She usually picks one or two elements and allows them to speak to her, instinctually building a home for them with glue, nails, and wood.

To take in her work is to be pleasantly lost in the details. Some repeating themes emerge: she has several homage collages to various feminist icons, a strong reverence towards nature illustrated with repeating seed pods, gnarled sticks and toy animals, and a wacky sense of humor. The works are colorful and bright, often with glittery or metallic coats of paint; it is clear that Rhodes enjoys making art.