About Me:

BRIEF:

Lydia Boddie-Rice is President/Creative Principal of BoddieWORKS and a self-declared art polymath who challenges, repurposes, and transforms creative norms through reinvention and storytelling.

MORE:

Lydia is known for creating one-of-a-kind mixed-media collages inspired by the intersection of her imagination and images that express iconic connections with subjects that inspire and transcend. An award-winning art polymath, she has recently returned exclusively to her visual art roots, re-wiring after channeling her creativity and renaissance nature to influence an eclectic body of executive, political and educational leadership roles. Formally educated, (Brown University: BA Art, Psychology minor, RI College: MA, Agency Counseling, and RISchool of Design: K-12 teaching certification), Lydia hoped to open a therapeutic arts practice which proved to be ahead of the times. Coming full circle, her artistry is focused on expressive arts therapies, utilizing visual storytelling while re-inventing collage techniques to create iconic statement pieces that share testimonies for healing. She deftly uses technology and AI to produce compositions that integrate her illustrations and images printed on fabric and commercially-produced companion remnants. Repurposed materials and interdisciplinary mediums add layered depth, color and texture, pushing the boundaries of assemblage. Her collages, particularly her foray into kite-making and installation, transforms traditional, utilitarian uses of fabric beyond cultural and utilitarian norms. Juried and group exhibitions in California, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia galleries celebrate her artistry.

Artist Statement:

“The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.” -Pablo Picasso

I create one-of-a-kind mixed media collages inspired by the intersection of my imagination and images that express iconic connections with subjects that inspire and transcend. I re-invent the collage techniques and traditional, utilitarian uses of fabric to create iconic statement pieces that share testimonies for healing. Technology is key to producing compositions that integrate my illustrations and images printed on fabric and applied with commercially-produced companion remnants to various substrates. Interdisciplinary mediums such as paint and 3-D enrichment elements are applied to add layered depth, color and texture to structural presentations inviting intentional storytelling, audience reflection and visually-stimulating viewer immersion and connection. My current creative direction is focused on reinventing collage, using repurposed materials to transform cultural norms, utilitarian techniques and materials to create art that pushes the boundaries of interdisciplinary mediums, with a particular focus on kite making and installation.