The Dream House Series
The dream house series is about an imagined world where the irrational
changes place with the rational. My interest in this series is with the
meanings attached to ordinary building elements and how those elements
are changed in their meaning when displaced or altered within their
context. I was interested in the term “Dream House”, not for its
connotation of the ideal living space, but rather for the language that
each building element contributes to the meaning of a space. The
elements take on associative properties and become metaphors of life.
The houses are from my imagination; and as houses of dreams they become
places of refuge, or cells to which I have lost the key. They are the
tracings of my mind's explorations.
The dream house series is made mostly of wood because this is a classic
building material used for houses. Its familiar building construction
makes them approachable. Each has but a single room for a single person
because of its intimacy and immediacy for the individual. Each dream
house is scaled at one quarter actual size where the scale is in
between that of a model and that of reality which heightens the
ambiguity. It is intended to be neither a representation of
architecture nor architecture itself; but archiSculpture, my term for
sculpture that uses the language of architecture for sculptural
exploration.
In the larger full scale dream houses, my intention is to extend the
interaction by involving the viewer in the imagined or real experience
of moving through the dream house, interacting with the dream house,
and forming one's own associations through the imagined or physical
exploration of the space. These larger pieces deny their architectural
presence by their nonfunctional use.
Another quality of my dream houses is the illusional disregard for
gravity. This is the removal of a structure from its foundation, a
place of stability and resistance to forces, so as to transcend reality
to dream. In this way, I hope to express the fleeting and unfolding
expression of experiences everyone of us has with dreams.
The dream houses are the examination of the meanings given to separate
elements or spaces when challenged by a new meaning presented in a new
context. They challenge and address universal themes of ambiguity.
These houses are the expressions of my reflection on the metaphorical
meaning attached to that which we call home.
Biography
BORN
1951 St. Louis, Missouri
EDUCATION
1984 MFA, Painting, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1980 MS, Painting, Illinois State University, Normal , IL
1976 MArch, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
1974 BS, Architecture, cum laude, University of IIlinois, Urbana, IL
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 “Dream Houses”, 425 Market Street, San Francisco, CA
2006 Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA
2005 "Dream Houses", Oakland Museum of California at City Center, Oakland, CA
2005 "Traumhaus - ArchiSculpture by Randy Dixon", Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1989 Anshen & Allen, San Francisco, CA
1984 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1981 "Listen to the Light," Peoria Art Guild, Peoria, IL
1980 Illinois State University, Normal, IL
1977 Caterpillar International Headquarters, Peoria, IL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2007 "A Model Building," Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2003 Annual Juried Sculpture Competition, The Sculpture Group Gallery, Danville, CA
1985 "OK-USA National Sculpture Exhibition," Cameron University, Lawton, OK
1985 "The Planar Dimension: Geometric Abstraction by Bay Area Artists," Civic Arts Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1983 "Alumni and Graduate Sculpture Invitational," CCAC Artists1 Gallery, Oakland, CA
1980 "Mississippi Corridor Painting Exhibition," Davenport Art Gallery, Davenport, IA
ARTIST LECTURES
“Material & Perception”, Sonoma State University Art Department, February
15, 2006
PUBLICATIONS
Shadows of the Cross, by Randy Dixon and Molly Roth, Loyola University Press, 1994
COMMMISSIONS
Paulist Center, Boston, MA 2004
St. Mary's Church, Lakeport, CA 1990
AWARDS AND GRANTS
BENE Award, Sculpture, Ministry & Liturgy publication, 2005
BENE Award, Art Glass, Ministry & Liturgy publication, 2000
IFRAA Merit Award, 1990
Francis J. Plym Travelling Fellowship, University of Illinois, 1986
Project Completion Grant, Illinois Arts Council, 1980
TEACHING POSITIONS
University of California, Extension at Berkeley, CA, 1988-1993
Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 1980-81
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Downs, David, East Bay Express - On the Wall, “Dream Houses”, Nov. 9, 2005, p.42
Baker, Kenneth, SF Chronicle -Datebook , "Dixon's ‘Dream Houses' ", August 27, 2005, p. E10
Jan, Alfred, City Arts, “Basic Geometry,” June 1983, p.12
Liss, Andres, Artweek, “Bay Area Geometric Abstraction,” May 7, 1983 pp. 1 and 16
Albright, Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle Review, “Lines, Cubes and the Root of Abstract,” April 17 1983, pp.12-13
Miller, Janet, New Art Examiner, “Midwest News: Illinois, “ June 1981, p.22
Klein, Jerry, Peoria Journal Star, “ Exhibit Will Please People Watchers,” Jan. 12, 1981