Artist Statement

My work has been about the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things thirty years ago I developed the technique of woven canvas paintings. It combines the immediacy and expressiveness of painting with the primitive structure of weaving. It is a simple structure, yet profound in its strength.

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Recently I have simplified my technique by using canvas strips in a single direction across the work surface creating overlapping parallel lines. This visual surface creates a minimal simplified texture and evokes contemplative tranquility.
 

After the surface is established, I apply oil paint. My palette lays a foundation for the application of gold and silver leaf. Precious metals have been used to convey divinity since antiquity and accentuate the richness of the layers of color.
 

I draw upon the influences of fiber artist Olga DeAmaral and field colorist Mark Rothko. The field colorist statement, "elemental truth is conveyed by the simple expression of complex thought", is the tenet of my process.

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Bio

 

RACHEL DARNELL
Born. 1961

EDUCATION:
1988 BFA, Memphis College of Art, Major: Decorative Design, concentration in Fiber
Viola-Joyce
Quigley Memorial Textile Award, Lytle McKee, Shainberg Scholarship
University of Memphis, 27 hours toward BFA
1984 BA, Emory University, Major: Religion-Judaic Studies
Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, one year
Austin College, Sherman, TX, one year
1967-77 Memphis Academy of Art, Saturday School Program

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SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
2020- 23 InArt, Four Seasons Rancho Encantada, Tesuque, NM
2018 Vivo Contemporary, Group show
2017 Vivo Contemporary, Group Show
Gallery 901, Santa Fe, NM New Beginnings, Path of Wabi Sabi,
Levy Gallery, Memphis, TN, Wabi Sabi
Galisteo Studio Tour, Galisteo, NM
2015 GF Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM Possibilities & Pulse
2014 Gallery Orange, New Orleans, LA, Group Show
GF Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM, Group Show
2013 Darnell Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM Mystic Images
2011 Darnell Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM, Mysterium
2010 Bentley Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, Selected Artists
2009 Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM, Salon Group Show,
Translations Gallery, Denver, CO
2006 New Mexico Museum of Art,
Santa Fe, NM, Juried Exhibition New Mexico Women Artists
2004 Darnell Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
Art Expo New York, Jacob Javitz Center, New York, NY
2000-03 Waxlander Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1999 Contemporary 1999, Juried Competition, Fuller’s Art Lodge, Los Alamos, NM
1997-98 Waxlander Khadoure Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
1997 Expressions in Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
1996 Art Resources, Birmingham, MI
1994 Raleigh Gallery, DCOTA, Miami, FL
Seventh Annual Juried Exhibition, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
1993 Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
1992 Fifth Annual Juried Competition, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL
1991 Art Today Benefit Exhibition, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
Southern Exposure: Juried Exhibition, Germantown, TN
Bell Ross Gallery, Memphis, TN
1989 Richard’s Gallery, Memphis, TN
1988 Senior Exhibit, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
Fiber Exhibit, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
1986 Print Show, Third Place, Malone and Hyde, Memphis, TN
Fiber Exhibit, Memphis College of Art
1985 University Gallery, Memphis State University, Memphis, TN

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
Art & Antiques: Summer 2011
Summer Season Santa Fe
Trend: Spring/Summer 2011
Gallery Perspectives Canyon Road
The Santa Fean Magazine: Dec/Jan 2010/2011
The Gallery Art Showcase “Sunset Mystic” by Rachel Darnell
Santa Fe Journal North: Feb. 9, 2010
Gallery Guide, “Dream Horizon” by Rachel Darnell
Traditional Home: March 2006
Show House Show Case, “Unity II”, Rachel Darnell
Albuquerque Journal North, Feb 2006
Gallery guide: “Passion V” by Rachel Darnell
Pasatiempo: The New Mexican’s Weekly Magazine of the Arts: May 2-8, 2003
“La Luna” by Rachel Darnell
Focus Santa Fe: January - March 2003
“A Mystical Universe”: Rachel Darnell takes one into a spacious world.
Ions: Noetic Science Review: September - November 2001
“Connecting Inner Assets”; “Soliel” by Rachel Darnell
New Mexico Millenium Collection: A Twenty-First Century Celebration of
Fine Art in New Mexico , “La Reina de la Salsa” By Rachel Darnell
Focus Santa Fe: April - May 2000
“A Spiritual Connection to an Ancient Past”

SELECTED CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:
Four Seasons, Denver, CO
Vedder Price, Chicago, IL
Edgewater Plaza, Chicago, IL
Hardin’s Sysco, Memphis, TN
International Paper, Germantown, TN
Wesley Manor, Atlanta, GA