Rachel Burgess
Three Blues, landscape monotype
2022

Name: Three Blues, landscape monotype
Brand: Rachel Burgess
Price: 2100 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Biography Rachel Burgess is a visual artist based in New York. Originally from Boston, she received a B.A. in Literature from Yale University and an M.F.A. in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts. Her interest in narrative and sequential forms continues to inform her work. She is the recipient of a 2021 Artist Development Program Award from the International Print Center of New York (NY); previous solo/two-person exhibitions include 3S Artspace (NH), Susan Eley Fine Art (NY), the University of Connecticut Art Gallery in Stamford (CT) and the Jonathan Frost Gallery (ME); previous group exhibitions include the International Print Center of New York (NY), 20/20 Gallery at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (NY), the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art (NY), the Monmouth Museum (NJ), the South Bend Museum of Art (IN), the American University Museum (Washington, D.C.), the Pyramida Center for Contemporary Art (Israel) and the Seoul Museum of Art (Korea). Burgess’ work has been supported by residencies at Acadia National Park and Zea Mays Printmaking, and has been featured in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Drawing Magazine, Introspective Magazine, 3x3 Magazine and CMYK. The coast of Maine has been the main source of inspiration for Rachel Burgess for many years. Using monotype, she creates iconic scenes that explore the relationship between experience and myth. In a print studio, she makes monotypes based on her drawings. The pulling of the print, which takes a few minutes, is followed by a wiping away of the image from the plate. The initial “painting” is lost, and a new work on paper is created, mimicking the way we transform fleeting experiences into lasting stories. The final product is a mirror image of the original, a metaphor for the fictionalization and abstraction that occurs in our minds. Artist Statement My work is about memory. I grew up in New England, and my pieces are inspired by memories of its landscape that have stayed with me since childhood. I’m interested in the discrepancy between what we experience and how we remember it – by the way we take a specific moment and turn it into an abstract memory. My landscapes are places that exist in my mind's eye, as a collection of key colors, or a memorable silhouette. I aim to capture an essence or mood, rather than a detailed rendering. To create an image, I first sketch on location. Then I create a monotype based on my drawing. Monotype is a form of printmaking that yields just one image (as opposed to techniques that allow you to produce an image over and over again). To make a monotype, I paint an image directly onto a plexi-glass plate and then use a printing press to transfer the medium onto paper, creating a one-off impression. This process mirrors my interest in memory, as my original painting on the plate is lost for the unique work. The way we remember things is changing. As we rely more on digital pictures, selfies, and videos, our ability to create genuine - albeit abstracted - memories will surely be impacted. As I work, I wonder how this will affect our personal memory bank: the stories we tell about ourselves. What will it mean to reflect and recollect when our lives are an endless trove of data? Can we continue to absorb places organically and fold them into ourselves, or will it be enough to just post pictures online? How much of our identity is lost as we allow thousands of images to memorialize our lives, rather than a few, treasured ones?

Creator:

Rachel Burgess (American)

Creation Year:

2022

Dimensions:

Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Width: 27 in (68.58 cm)

Medium:

Archival Paper,Monotype

Movement & Style:

Contemporary

Period:

2010-