Rhonda Weppler makes sculptural still lifes using the centuries-old technique of repoussé, in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Embossing aluminum, brass, and copper foils on objects, Weppler creates residual shells that serve as commentary on the ephemerality of all things. At MAD, Weppler will create elaborate, small-scale repoussé foil sculptures using raw and patinated copper.
Weppler presented an exhibition in collaboration with the MFA Boston’s Community Arts Initiative, and has exhibited extensively across Canada with her frequent collaborator, Trevor Mahovsky. Weppler received an MFA from the University of British Columbia and a BA from the University of Toronto.
Watch Crafts Abyss
Crafts Abyss Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky Digital video, 2020
Crafts Abyss, co-hosted by artists Rhonda Weppler and Trevor Mahovsky, is an artwork taking the form of a series of meditative DIY and ASMR influenced videos, in which the artists demonstrate the creation of copies of handmade craft objects they have sourced on the internet. The videos include links to downloadable files so that anyone can make their own clones of these craft objects, all of which have been manipulated by the artists to become a hybrid digital craft object that serves a new functional–if strange–purpose.