Dorothea Rockburne

Dorothea Rockburne (born October 18, 1932) is a Canadian abstract painter, drawing inspiration primarily from her deep interest in mathematics and astronomy. Her work is geometric and abstract, seemingly simple but very precise to reflect the mathematical concepts she strives to concretize. "I wanted very much to see the equations I was studying, so I started making them in my studio," she has said. "I was visually solving equations." Her attraction to Mannerism has also influenced her work.

Career
In 1950, Rockburne moved to the United States to attend Black Mountain College, where she studied with mathematician Max Dehn, a lifelong influence on her work. In addition to Dehn, she studied with Franz Kline, Philip Guston, John Cage, and Merce Cunningham. She also met fellow student Robert Rauschenberg. In 1955, Rockburne moved to New York City where she met many of the leading artists and poets of the time. She was influenced by the minimalist dances of Yvonne Rainer and the Judson Dance Theater. Throughout her career, she created paintings that expressed mathematical concepts. In 1958, a solo show of her work was critically and financially successful but deemed "not good enough" by Rockburne herself. She did not publicly show her work again for more than a decade, turning her attention to dance and performance art by 1960. Rockburne participated in performances at the Judson Dance Theater and took classes at the American Ballet Theatre. During that time she supported her daughter, Christine, by working as a waitress and a studio manager for her friend Robert Rauschenberg. Bykert Gallery, in New York, which also represented Chuck Close and Brice Marden, began showing her work in 1970.

Rockburne's series of installations, Set Theories, included works such as Intersection, which attempted to merge two of her other pieces of art (Group and Disjunction) to illustrate the mathematical concept of intersection. The series later led to her experimentation with new concepts and materials, such as Gold Section and carbon paper. In 2011, a retrospective exhibition of her work was shown at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, and in 2013, the Museum of Modern Art hosted a solo show of her drawings.

Rockburne is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Academy of Design, and The Century Association. In 2016, Rockburne earned a doctorate degree at Bowdoin College. In 2009 Rockburne became an Honorary Vice President of the National Association of Women Artists, the first women's professional fine art organization founded in the USA.

Awards and honors

 * 1976 The Art Institute of Chicago, F.L.M. Witkowsky Painting Award
 * 1985 Brandeis University, Creative Arts Award
 * 1991 Rome Prize
 * 1997 Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Inc., Award
 * 1999 American Academy of Arts and Letters, Jimmy Ernst Lifetime Achievement Award in Art
 * 2002 Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, College of Creative Studies, Detroit, Michigan
 * 2002 National Academy of Design, Pike Award for Watercolor
 * 2002 National Academy of Design, Adolph & Clara Abrig Prize for Watercolor
 * 2003 Art Omi International, Francis J. Greenberger Award
 * 2003, 2007 Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Lee Krasner Award
 * 2009 National Academy Museum & School of Fine Arts, Lifetime Achievement Award
 * 2016 Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME, Doctorate Degree

Works

 * Fire Engine Red. 1967. Wrinkle finish paint (oil) on aluminum. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor.
 * Scalar. 1971. Chipboard, crude oil, paper and nails. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
 * Locus. 1972. Series of six relief etching and aquatints on folded paper. Museum of Modern Art, New York.
 * Golden Section Painting #6. 1975. Kraft paper and blue pencil on linen. University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor.