| Zomerhuis, a graphic designer by training, also plays
with form and media in his signature acrylic and oil pastel paintings.
The work is large, flamboyantly colorful, and full of fun. Still,
through layers and color and texture, Zomerhuis evokes something more -
something almost hidden beneath the surface; a subtle inkling for pause.
"Five years ago I started doing monotypes, then playing around with
oil pastel over the surface. It was a bit like abstract in reverse.
Instead of taking an object and paring it down into something unrecognizable,
this was a technique of taking something unrecognizable and creating shapes
that relate in a dialogue of their own."
Zomerhuis' work is unquestionably abstract. But he often uses
archetypal shapes - geometric or organic - that can touch a personal cord
in anyone, a sense of childhood rekindling or of deep feelings coming to
the surface.
-Lis Bensley, The Santa Fe New Mexican August 1994
A small show with stong qualities is that of Dale Zomerhuis at the Artists'
Gallery. The artist's style can loosely be called expressionistic,
and it has some of the hallmarks of regional neo-expressionism - free,
jagged line, bright color and high energy, None of this is just on
the surface, however, and that's important. Zomerhuis' images look
as though they have life all the way through to the back of the paper.
-David Bell, The Albuquerque Journal North May 1988
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