Kimberlee Rocca is a pioneer in the newly discovered art technique of Foil Imaging. As one of the first artists to study Foil Imaging, Kimberlee is a premier contributor to the development of this cutting edge art form. You can find her technique discoveries and artistic contributions published in the first book ever written about the process, “Foil Imaging – A New Art Form”. When you speak with her about the virtually unknown methods of application, you gain a deeper understanding of the significance of her innovations in the history of printmaking and art.

“Foil Imaging” is a new printmaking process which allows the artistic application and manipulation of commercial roll leaf foil products. Foils come in rolls, similar to aluminum foil, and are applied to paper with heat, pressure and various techniques using the “Iowa Foil Printer”. While there are many different colors of foil, the pallet remains quite limited when you compare it with a selection of paints that can create almost any color a person could desire. This limited foil color pallet creates an inherent challenge into broadening the color spectrum while working with foil. Kimberlee’s mastery of the art is best displayed in her bold color selections and her ability to create new colors with her innovative techniques of layering and removal of the foil. The unique reflective qualities of this art form can have a painterly quality when viewed as a reproduction, but when natural light reflects off the surfaces of the foil, the colors come alive and add an unfathomable depth and beauty to the images. Foil Imaging is not traditional gold or silver leaf; it is a printmaking process that is being pioneered by artists, like Kimberlee, mentored by the Iowa Print Group at the University of Iowa.

While Kimberlee’s attraction to metallic surfaces and materials came long before discovering Foil Imaging, she believes a new life was birthed within her when she laid hands on the medium and began to explore the unknown. Strong images, seductive shapes, and bold colors combined with reflective surfaces natural to the foil palette are the mettle of Kimberlee’s portfolio. She believes there is a great responsibility involved in being a part of the inventive process of Foil Imaging. With her passion for her work and in honor of Professor Virginia Myers, she does all she can to share this remarkable artistic discovery with the world.

The techniques and qualities of Kimberlee’s Foil Imaging works engulf the eyes and draw the viewer into the deeper meaning of the images. Circles and spheres can at times represent people, choices, God, power, influence or protection. At other times they can mean chaos, pressure, and boundaries. Boxes and squares can be windows, doors, closets, steps to success and places of safety. Or traps, obstacles, and walls. The rays and lines often mean connection, communication, protection and strength, or daggers, attacks, confusion and turmoil. These are only the beginning of the commentary conveyed through her work.

Raised in the Midwest, Kimberlee earned her BFA from the University of Iowa in 1991with a Major in Metal Smithing, under Prof Chung Hi Choo, and Double Minors in Fiber Art, under Prof Nancy Purrington, and Design from the University of Iowa in Iowa City. She studied Foil Imaging under direct independent instruction from the Foil Imaging founder, Professor Viginia Myers. In 1991she purchased a prototype of the Iowa Foil Printer. Her 20 year art career in creating and selling her Original Foil Imaging works has given her a distinctive body of work and a broad range of sales to individuals, collectors and institutions both nationally and internationally. A few of the permanent installations and collections include; Original work in the First Traveling Exhibition for Foil Imaging, “The Beautiful Mind” collection for The Athletic Learning Center at the University of Iowa, “Teamwork” series for University of Missouri St Louis, and a series of Original Foil Works for Kirkwood Community College Cedar Rapids Iowa.

Over the years Kimberlee’s enjoyment in the areas of drafting, design and homebuilding, her love of landscape design and installations, as well as personally designing, fabricating and installing mosaic tile work, have all fueled and inspired her passion for the unusual technique and qualities of Foil Imaging. Drawing from her everyday life experiences with her husband Kevin, children Malachi, Sophia, Gianna and Liona, her faith in God and her ability to see the possibility for transformation in almost everything, Kimberlee’s original works, though mostly modern and abstract, have a bold and organic quality that tell thought provoking, intimate stories about life and relationships to others and the Creator. She is inspired by works from the Art Nouveau Period, Asian and Japanese styles of design and architecture, Mosaic tile artists, traditional Aboriginal paintings, metals, rocks and the wonders and beauty of God’s great earth.

“My art reflects struggles and victories in my own life by use of abstract works and figures. I put to paper the very nature of the desire to discover and become who I am meant to be. The results are works filled with life, promise, hope, joy, strength and purpose. We are all here to help and encourage one another; my purpose is to do that through my art work”