Davana Rodedee (b. 1986) is an artist whose practice centers on large scale indigo drawings and fiber art installations. She grows and extracts her own indigo dye from a small garden, grounding her work in cycles of cultivation and labor.
She is the former director of Quilting by the Lake, one of the oldest art quilt conferences in the country and is a committed advocate for the communities that surround fiber-based art making. She was part of the American Craft Emerging Artist Cohort 2024, is a NYSCA 2025 Artist Awardee, serves on the board of the Schweinfurth Art Center and the James Renwick Alliance for Craft.
Her work has been shown in numerous solo exhibitions nationwide including Biformity at Buffalo Art Studios, As Above, So Below at 3S ArtSpace in Portsmouth, NH; The Instability of Nothing at Riverviews Art Space in Lynchburg, VA; In a Moment — Between Dreams at Dowd Gallery, SUNY Cortland; The Divergence of Light at Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, CO; Revival at AC Institute, New York, NY; Asymptote at Thompson's Point, Portland, ME; and Climates at View Art Center in Old Forge, NY.
She has participated in residencies at Weissensee School of Art in Berlin, Kimmel Harding Nelson in Nebraska City, Penland Winter Residency in Asheville, NC, and as fiber artist in residence at Gael Roots Farm through Catskills Artspace in Livingston Manor, NY.
She received an M.F.A from Syracuse University and a B.A. from Southeastern Louisiana University. She lives in Syracuse, NY with her partner and black cats.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My practice is rooted in firsthand experience of phenomena that exist at the threshold of perception — visual aura, lucid dreams, and hallucination. These experiences have made me acutely aware of the brain's capacity to construct and distort reality. This drives an ongoing inquiry into the nature of human consciousness. My work lives in the space between states of being: dream and wake, consciousness and unconsciousness. I am preoccupied with questions that have no resolution: how does matter become alive, and where do we go when we die?
This inquiry takes material form through textiles and labor. I believe that labor endows deep meaning. I use stitch resist shibori and indigo dye as a method of drawing. I grow and extract my own indigo dye. Each drawing is a collaboration between the earth, water, and air as the indigo is grown in earth, submerged in water, and exposed to air to complete the bonding process. The image is made through the chemical bond of oxygen to leucoindigo. When the fabric emerges from the vat the chemical bond completes – creating the image on the surface. The drawing is contained in a moment. It is a happening.
Making marks this way allows for an indirect approach to image making. Rather than an active hand- the process allows me to make suggestions for where the mark should be. I set limitations. Define boundaries. Create barriers. But I also provide opportunities for the indigo to take up residence. I guide, coax, and invite my mark. The image emerges- passing through the doorways I open.
Education
2011- 2014 • Masters of Fine Arts, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York.
2005- 2010 • Bachelors of Arts, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, Louisiana.
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2025 • Biformity, Buffalo Arts Studio, Buffalo, NY (solo)
2023 • As Above, So Below, 3S Artspace, Portsmouth, NH, (solo)
2020 • Falling or Floating, Artspace 36, Canandaigua, NY (solo)
2019 • In a Moment- Between Dreams, Dowd Gallery- SUNY Cortland, Cortland, NY (solo)
2017 • The Instability of Nothing, Riverviews Art Space, Lynchburg, VA. (solo)
• The Resonance of Light, Earlville Opera House, Earlville, NY. (solo)
• Climates, View Arts Center, Old Forge, NY. (solo)
2016 • The Divergence of Light, Curfman Gallery, Fort Collins, Colorado.
• The Millennia of the Waterbear, Apostrophe S, Syracuse, NY. (solo)
2015 • Revival, AC Institute, New York, NY. (solo)
2014 • Asymptote, Thompson’s Point, Portland, ME. (solo)
• On the Surface and Everywhere In Between, Spark Contemporary Art Gallery, Syracuse, NY.
2013 • Void and Devoid, Spark Contemporary Art Gallery, Syracuse, NY.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2026 • Davana Robedee, Daniel Giordano, Kathy Ruttenberg, Catskill ArtSpace, NY.
2024 • Five x Five, Southern University Visual Art Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
2022 • Organic Abstraction, Edgewood Gallery, Syracuse, NY.
2019 • Take Back the Walls, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, NY.
2017 • Extra Ordinary Extraordinary, Healthcare Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
• Kimmel Harding Nelson’s Resident Exhibition, The UNO Gallery, Omaha, NE.
2016 • Residents, Eisentrager-Howard Gallery in University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.
2015 • Sum: Art, Point of Contact, Syracuse, NY.
• Made in NY, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY.
• Epic Epoch, Con Artist Gallery, New York, NY.
• P3+BR: Notes Upriver Invitational, Chase South Tower, Baton Rouge, LA.
2014 • The Way Out, Rogue Space Chelsea, New York, NY.
• Demoinselles, Michael Sickler Gallery, Syracuse, NY.
• KHN Permanent Collection Exhibition, Hastings College Art Gallery, Hastings, NE.
2013 • Made in NY, The Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY.
• The Connective Thread, Gandee Gallery, Fabuis, NY.
• Fetish, Coyne Gallery, Syracuse, NY.
2012 • Transitive Flux, XL Projects, Syracuse, NY.
2011 • Modus Operandi, Kaufhalle Wird Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany.
• Surreal Salon, Baton Rouge Contemporary Art Gallery, Baton Rouge, LA.
2010 • Team Fantastic, Arrowmont West Wing Gallery, Gatlinburg TN.
• Alumni Exhibition, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Hammond LA.
• ArtMelt, Louisiana State Museum, Baton Rouge LA.
• Accretion, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Hammond LA.
• Small Works, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Hammond LA.
• While in Class, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago IL.
2009 • Create, Guerilla Gallery, Hammond LA.
• Venus Envy, Baton Rouge Contemporary Art Gallery, Baton Rouge LA.
• Visual Arts Society, St. Tammany Regional Art Center, Covington LA.
• Selections, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Hammond LA.
Grants and Awards
2025 • New York State Council on the Arts Awardee
2024 • American Craft Emerging Artist Fellow
2014 • Ginsburg-Klaus Fellowship Award
2013 • Albert K. Murray Fine Arts Grant
• Creative Opportunity Grant, Syracuse University
2011 • Visual and Performing Arts Scholarship, Syracuse University
• Graduate Student Organization Travel Grant, Syracuse University
2008 • Gail Hood Endowed Scholarship for Painting, Southeastern Louisiana University
2006 • Gail Hood Endowed Scholarship for Painting, Southeastern Louisiana University
2005 • Carl Thorp Memorial Art Scholarship, Southeastern Louisiana University
Residencies
2025 • Chautauqua 2-week Artist Residency, Chautauqua, NY.
2024 • Catskills Artspace Fiber Artist Residency, Livingston Manor, NY.
• Penland Winter Residency, Bakersville, NC.
2011 • Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE.
• Weissensee School of Art, Berlin, Germany.
Publications
2025 • Timeless Textiles, Mediums Revealed Peters Valley School of Craft, Vol. 1, page 37.
2024 • Embrace the Unexpected, Surface Design Journal, Vol. 48, No. 3, page 29.
2014 • The Way Out, Syracuse: College of Visual and Performing Arts.
2013 • "Transitive Flux, Episode 44." Martino, Mark. Artifex. PBS. WCNY, Syracuse. Television.
2012 • Modus Operandi, 1 Oct. 2012: pages, 47-52.
Workshops & Lectures
2025 • Two, 1 day Indigo Shibori workshops, Buffalo Arts Studio, Buffalo, NY
2023 • Indigo Shibori 2 day workshop, 3S Artspace, Portsmouth, NH.
• Indigo Basics 1 day workshop, Matilda Joslyn Gage Ambassadors, Syracuse, NY.
2021 • Indigo Basics 2 Day workshop Fall, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
• Indigo Basics 1 Day workshop Spring, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
• A brief History of Indigo in America lecture, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
2020 • From Seed to Dye 3 Day workshop, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY.
Process and Dreams lecture, Finger Lakes Community College, Canandaigua, NY.
2019 • Art and the Brain lecture, SUNY Cortland University, Cortland, NY
Professional Experience
2024- Present • Director, Tyler Art Gallery, SUNY Oswego, Oswego, NY.
2016- 2024 • Program Director, Schweinfurth Art Center, Auburn, NY.
2015- 2016 • Adjunct Professor, SUNY Broome, Binghamton, NY.
2012- 2016 • Adjunct Professor, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
2014- 2016 • Lead Art Instructor, 4A Art Academy, Syracuse, NY.
Memberships & Committees
2022-Present • Surface Design Association Events Committee & Member
2026- Present • Schweinfurth Art Center Board Member
2026- Present • James Renwick Alliance Board Member