Rita’s artwork is shaped by a life lived across cultures. Born in Kenya, of Indian heritage, and now firmly rooted in Colorado, she brings a deep appreciation for diverse landscapes, traditions, and beliefs into her creative process. Her first home state in the US, more than 40 years ago, was Arizona, where she fell in love with the surrounding mountains, saguaros and adobe buildings with the backdrop of it’s rich history. This immediately fell into place with her attraction to bold shapes, colors and textures, naturally aligning her African and American SouthWest sensibilities. Rita spent 35 years in the corporate world with little time for drawing and painting. Her break away occurred when an energy reading informed her ‘to let the tiger out of the cage!’ This was confirmed during a year long Leadership program to take more risks and steer away from well-trodden paths in her
personal life. Thus began her journey to the path she’s always wanted to forge: she left her job and began in earnest to study with professional artists. She’s come far, thanks to all these teachers, as well as her personal drive, vision and need to create. The SouthWestern landscape is her muse: her use of colors, shapes and textures bring an energy and clarity to her paintings, inviting us to explore our own interpretations. She is also drawn to objects made by hand. These shapes are interpreted with the same energy as her landscapes. Rita draws on the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi: to embrace the imperfections, giving us depth and variance. She strives for a sense of mystery, allowing room for interpretation. Her emphasis on dialogue with her collectors enriches this
experience, fostering a shared connection. Rita’s love and appreciation for the beauty around us and the spiritual beliefs imbued in them are layered in her mind as textures - trees, mountains, gardens, traditions and scents build an emotional response that is expressed in her work. Through the process of exploring the shapes, colors and textures of the scene; through mark making, layering colors and subtracting to reveal what’s buried deep within, she is able to articulate and form images that express her experiences in the SouthWest.