Artist Statement

Exquisite lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, and experimentation inspire my creations. I abstract my subconscious experience into more concrete forms to explore my connection to the spaces I occupy physically and existentially. It simultaneously drives me to collapse into myself, while exposing my precious oddities to others in an effort to deepen my worldly connections. Metal, wood, resin, and any other material I may encounter facilitates my need to build. I create, deconstruct, and rearrange to transform fragments of images, feeling, and wonder into more complete thoughts that add to my understanding of what it means to exist.

BIO

Rita Toikka is the product of chaos and curiosity. Despite a nomadic upbringing she managed to ride and endurance-race horses throughout her high-school years in San Jose, California, competing in the World’s Toughest 100-mile Race, The Tevis Cup, at 16. Shortly before graduating from Leland High, Rita was thrown out on her tuchas to fend for herself. So, she became one of the youngest and most successful Front Desk Managers at 24 Hour Fitness, transitioning into their Regional Retail Coordinator, working throughout the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

Young Rita became enticed by the entertainment industry and moved to Hollywood. Clubbing since the age of 14, by 21 Rita was sick of this nonsense and preferred indie bands in dive-bar settings while pursuing an acting career and working in different creative sectors of production and entertainment. Rita made a decent living but loathed being an actor and was decidedly fed up with being cast as a video vixen. oddly enough, she accidentally ended up being a guitar player in a 60’s pop-rock-style band after auditioning to be in their music video and was quickly playing shows at classic L.A. venues like Goldfingers, The Dragonfly, and The Viper Room. In turn, Rita formed Modicum, a riot-girl-esque band recording and performing all over Southern California. Ultimately disgusted by the predatory music industry, she left in 2007 after a week-long road trip with a bestie in the not-so-distant lands of Arizona.

The serenity of country livin’ called her away from the city and into the desert mountain country near Prescott, Arizona for a life of anonymity and horses. In short order she was bored, tried bartending and found babysitting drunk adults completely annoying. College-bound in her 30’s at Yavapai College, medical school was the original goal but ultimately Rita found her way back into the creative life while completing associate degrees in science and fine art, a BS in psychology with a minor in women and gender studies at ASU, and now considering different graduate programs. She absolutely loves teaching Welded Metal Sculpture at Yavapai College and continues to expand her own art practice. Her capacity for empathy and desire to look outward as well as inward inspires her to create work with layers of meaning, filled with deeply felt personal experience. Rita continues to investigate new mediums, materials, and processes. Experimentation and connection are important aspects of her work.

“Art is the only way I can put everything I am into something semi-tangible.” ~Rita Toikka