Biography

Since completing her MA in Fine Art Painting at the Royal Academy in 1990, Rachel has lived and worked in the village of Hartfield, until moving with her husband onto several acres of low weald landscape, where they live in makeshift caravans whilst building their home.

Do the Zoo

During her masters programme of study Rachel developed work exploring the relationships between man and animals. As a result she was awarded a commission from London Underground for their Art on the Underground series, specifically advertising London Zoo.

This commission continues to be used as an educational resource at The London Transport Museum where it is permanently housed. This large scale oil painting The last passengers on the ship considers the issues surrounding the extinction of endangered species, climate change, habitat destruction and joins the ongoing debate on the role of animal collections.

The last passengers on the ship
is copyright © Transport for London and is reproduced here with their kind permission.

More recent work focuses on the rural landscape under constant pressure from agriculture, environmental degradation, seasonal and climate change: "I strive towards an instinctive empathy and spiritual interconnection between myself as and my environment."

Her work reveals the landscape of Sussex not as a comfortable idyll but as a complex multi layered and ever-changing environment.

The influences of  Franc Auerbach, Anselm Kiefer, David Tress and Therese Oulton, are evident within current work describing the muddy tracks traversing her land at the foot of the Downs.  These reveal a direct, immediate and tactile experience of the earth, resulting in a more experimental and experiential approach to materials. This vigorous direct approach in the handling of the paint has reasserted the dominance of drawing within the structure and effectively expresses the energy and urgency of a changing environment and landscape.

Education

Foundation Diploma- Hastings College of Art and technology (Sept 83 - July 84)
B.A.(Hon's) Fine Art Painting- West Surrey College of Art and Design (Sept 84 - July 87) MA Fine Art Painting - Royal Academy of Art, London (October 87 - June 90)
PGCE Art and Design Brighton University 2000

Work Displayed in Public Collections

  • London Transport Museum and Leicester Fullhurst Community Centre.

Artist in Residence

  • Beaumanor Hall and Liecestershire Fulhurst Community College, Leicestershire

Commissions

  • Art on The Underground
    poster commissioned by London Underground for the Art on the Underground
    series.

Exhibitions

  • Ten Young British Artists
    A Federation of British Artists Show - The Mall Gallery 1988
  • Premiums Show
    The Royal Academy - London 1988 & 1990
  • Animal Show II
    Young Unknowns Gallery - London 1989
  • Summer Exhibition
    The Royal Academy - London 1989/90/91/92/93/94/95/97/98
  • Women in Art
    Bowmore Gallery - London 1989
  • Students from the Royal Academy Schools
    Art Directions - London 1989
  • Liecestershire Collection For Schools and Colleges
    Liecestershire 1990/91/92/93/94
  • Weald of Kent Preservation Society Art Exhibition
    Tenterden 1990/91/92
  • Two Woman Show
    The Alba Gallery - Kew London Jan 1991
  • Viera gray house Appeal
    London - April 1991
  • Contemporary Artists Show
    Chappell Gallery - Essex, May 1991
  • Summer show
    Alba Gallery, Kew london - June 1991
  • Beasts Show
    Roger Green Gallery - Tenterden Kent - June,July 1993
  • Ten British Artists
    The Gallery - Parklane, London 1994
  • The Ark
    Rye Gallery - Rye, July 1994
  • Zoo Gallery
    Port Lymne Zoo Gallery - Kent 1994/95/96/97
  • One Man Show
    The Studio, August 1995
  • Countryside Exhibition
    Gallery 24, Cork Street, London - May 1997
  • The Stroke Association Exhibition
    Festival Hall, London - October 1997
  • Beasts
    Fairfax Gallery Tunbridge Wells - Nov, Dec 1997
  • The Studio of Artists
    Camberwell Gallery - jun 1999
  • The Exhibition
    The Studios, Camberwell, London - July 1999
  • The Summer Exhibition
    The New Grafton Gallery, London 2000
  • Sadlers Row Gallery
    Contemporary Fine Art Exhibition, Petworth 2001
  • Cowdray Park Show
    Cowdray 2002
  • Alchemy Show
    Chequers Mead Theatre and Arts Centre Dec-Jan 2003
  • The Burlington Gallery
    Piccadilly London 2005-2006
  • The Living Landscape
    Open studio show June 2006
  • Students of Roderick Barret
    group show, Chappell Gallery, Essex November 2006
  • Contemporary Lines
    Gallery North, Hailsham, July 2007
  • Summer show
    Gallery North, Hailsham, June 2008