On Painting and Sculpture:

I am in a perpetual state of study as I digest my surroundings in nature. I delight in the way serpentine roots of a deceased tree embroiders lava rock, I revel in the silence of a sun-dried palm frond and I swell with enchantment at a weathered stone. These sensual experiences of presentness with the visceral transformations in nature parallel the growth of my philosophy and identity; this is what compels me to create art. I strive to celebrate these cycles that are ever-present in both our outer and inner worlds. In my creative process, I work in cooperation with my environment by utilizing found material. And, in the studio, I honor the natural integrity of the material and intuit the way it guides my composition. In essence, the media itself is a transformed entity as it finds life in my art. My hope is to give a voice to the humanity’s relationship with nature through a dynamic spectrum of abstract and surreal design.

On Drawing:

The simplicity of using a single, drawn line to translate the essence of a person or an object challenges my conditioning of what ‘perfection’ means. There is no eraser. There is nothing to fix. The line itself perfectly exists as an extension of the creator, the artist. I no longer create what I imagine others want to see. I allow the line to lead and in that I find peace.

a little about me

Rachel ages 16 and 34 in the same tree on Big Island, Hawaii.

Rachel is a lifelong artist who has honed her craft through a combination of formal education and self-directed learning. She has multidisciplinary experience spanning textiles, drawing, sculpture, collage, murals and painting. Her most recent work focuses on sculptures and paintings made with locally sourced plant materials. In addition to her visual arts studies at the University of Colorado, Rachel is also a certified Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner. Her interests in abstraction, surrealism, avant-garde, figurative art, antiquity, and the occult inform her work. She acknowledges her art process as a deeply spiritual practice. Rachel recently debuted her first solo exhibition at the Kahilu Theatre Foundation in Kamuela, HI, and has participated in many juried group exhibitions across Hawai'i Island since 2019. She is passionate about collaborating with the people, land, and sensations that surround her, and is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of her art practice.

Her most stunning artistic creations are her two children whose impassioned spirits mirror her own.