Rachael Catharine Anderson
B. Columbus, Ohio
The work is an ode to the awe-inspiring biological force of compostable, ephemeral subjects such as leaves, decaying fruit, branches, iron metals, and plant matter. I use paint, photography, and sculpture as impermanent substances that compose, conjoin, coagulate, and decompose images. I often bathe the surface of my canvases in thinned paint that is dispersed on top of water. The resulting paint-washed surfaces appear veiny, amorphous, foggy, and covered with mold. The work’s nuance in all media encourages an active way of portraying the subjects, which are integral things like nutrient rich-rotten plant matter or polluted air. I enjoy mixing categories of subject and content to offer a nuanced way to reconsider the “overlooked,” traditionally regarded as unimportant material beings that have complex relationships with our ecologies.
Permanent Culture Symphony, 2022. Installation view. Photo: Allison Minto.
Bittersweet with Terrestrial Twins Portal and Pumpkin, 2022. Bittersweet wreath, oil on canvas, new moon pumpkin; 21 x 21 in., 37 x 50 in., and 5 x 5 in. Photo: Allison Minto.
Terrestrial Twins Portal, 2022. Oil on canvas; 37 x 50 in.
Tangle with Modern Prometheus, 2022. Zinc coated steel, oil on canvas; 21 x 21 in. and 65 x 96 in. Photo: Allison Minto.
Driftwood Telephone (Device for Mediation), 2022. Soviet-era dial-less telephone, speaker, field recorder, driftwood, found plywood, 1/4 inch instrument cable; approx. 25 x 31 x 10 in.
Permaculture Montage, 2021. Instant 160 speed film; each 3.108 x 3.024 in. Photo: Allison Minto.
Tractor Parts, 2021. Instant 160 speed film; 3.108 x 3.024 in.
New Moon Pumpkin, 2021. Instant 160 speed film; 3.108 x 3.024 in.
Compost Clock, 2022. Oil on canvas; 85 x 73 in. Photo: Allison Minto.
Compost Clock (detail). Photo: Allison Minto.