Rhonda Storm ~ Shoe Sculpture
~ Biography ~
First Gallery Exhibitions Contact
Rhonda Storm made her first shoe at primary school. It was in plasticine and it sat on her teacher's desk for a whole year awaiting the pair. Although the second shoe was never made, Rhonda has spent much of her subsequent life with shoes as a source of interest, research, income and artistry.
She had formal training in cutting, design and hand made shoe making at Collingwood Technical College. South Gippsland people may remember her Longlast Shoe Company in Meeniyan. The breakaway from everyday footwear came when Rhonda began making shoes to accompany historical costume. This was fun and required research and experimentation so it wasn't such a big step into letting the imagination flow into shoe art, or shoe sculpture, which is an internationally recognised art form.
Shoe sculptures always maintain the basic form of a shoe which is never quite totally abstracted. Parts however may be exaggerated or distorted and objects or emblems are often added. The overall effect results in a statement of shoe in context, a kind of microcosmic figure in a landscape. The reaction of the viewer may vary from simple intrigue to horror or laughter as they interpret the associations inherent in the work. Rhonda's goat shoes for example, raise questions about fur and skin in fashion and have references to both myth and symbol. This allows for individual interpretation. We are asked to extend our understanding of the shoe/foot fetish.
Rhonda's Sishu (sea shoe) was exhibited in the Hermann's Shoe Competition and was purchased for their personal collection. More recently Rhonda held a joint exhibition with her daughter, Emilia Storm, at the Meeniyan Art Gallery, which included pieces such as the Barramundi Collection (Emilia's design for the centrepiece can be seen at the bottom) and the Black Widow Collection. Her piece Knightbird is currently on display at the Convent Gallery in Daylesford.
I dream shoes, she says. I can wake up laughing or scared stiff and I've gone on to make some of these shoes.
First Gallery Exhibitions Contact
All material on this site copyright Rhonda Storm 2003 Last updated 24 July 2003
