Rachel Gadsden (born 1964) is a figurative artist who uses painting and drawing to consider themes of fragility, vulnerability and hope.
She says, "I feel compelled to create art that draws the viewer closer to an understanding of the human condition." This motivation has brought Rachel to a wide variety of subjects ranging from street children in Colombia, to derelict collieries and asylums in Wales , to the Iraq War.
Rachel trained in Fine Art Wimbledon School of Art, and took an MA in Fine Art at City and Guilds of London Art School. She also has a Diploma in Anatomy and Art from the University College London Medical School .
Rachel's work has been widely exhibited in the UK and overseas. She is the recipient of many prizes and awards, most recently, DADA Visual Artist of the Year (2005) and Holton Lee International Art Competition, People's Choice Prize (2007).
Rachel in collaboration with Sarah Pickthall has recently been commissioned to develop Para-Play for a Paralympics Archive Art Pilot - 2007, for Bucks Arts Partnership (BAP), WheelPower-British Wheelchair Sport and Dada-South. This project is being developed in anticipation of the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Paralympics.
The painstaking assemblage of items has become fundamental to Rachel's artistic process. Her drawings and paintings are richly textured, made of found materials, stitching, fragments of text, photographs and hair. These are embedded into the work to create a metaphorical landscape. Each painting is slowly built up with a succession of transparent layers. Each layer traps and encloses the array of materials, creating a visceral sense of time and depth that demands to be explored. Rachel says, "As the viewer's gaze penetrates the layers, they are drawn closer to the true essence of the subject."
EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
Holton Lee Residency, Dorset, 2007
Discursive Spaces Project, Brighton University, 2007
ActualEight Exhibition, Manchester, 2006
Museum of Modern Art Wales, 2005
Beyond the Asylum Exhibition, Denbigh, 2005
Zuhair Fayez Architecture Partnership, Public Commission, Saudi Arabia (2004)
Artist in Residence Penalta Colliery, South Wales (2003)
Children of the Andes Charity Commissioned Artist (2002)
Artist in Residence Huntercombe Young Offenders Institute (2001)
Notes from the Underground, Dostoyevsky Museum , St Petersburg (1999)
SUBSCRIBE!
To stay in touch with Rachel's latest work and exhibitions, subscribe to the GV Art email updates at www.gvart.co.uk
