Sense and Sensuality

Rachel Siegel
Portland, Oregon

Untitled (for Rick), top right

5.25" x 8" x 1"

SOLD!

Seamingly, bottom right

5.25" x 4.5"

$45 To Purchase Contact 23 Sandy Gallery

www.radiantflux.com

Artist Statement

My artistic practice investigates social and political concerns as well as feminist themes. I draw on autobiography in much the same way that Second Wave Feminists used the personal to address patriarchal power structures. In my work I weave together multiple interests, often using humor and playfulness to investigate issues that are significant to me (including the body, the family, health and interpersonal relationships). Initially I worked in collage, photography and mixed media. In the mid-1980s my process was transformed by access to technology with the availability of copy machines and desktop publishing. I employed both of these technologies while taking part in a wave of “Do It Yourself” art of the time: self-publishing two zines, Ink Disease and Emissions, and disseminating xerographic art. The digital media revolution plays a notable role in the way my art is made and viewed. My current art practice incorporates digital technology in my prints, artist’s books, video, and installation work.

My recent exhibitions “Re-freshing Play,” an installation examining femininity, aging and memory through play, exhibited in February 2007, at the Rake Art Gallery in Portland. Another recent solo work, “Hidden Truths: Balancing Acts,” an interactive piece based on family secrets, was on display at the Portland Building Installation Space in August-September 2006. Support for this piece was provided by RACC. “Hidden Truths: Balancing Acts” was inspired by “Seam-Sew Ordinary,” a piece about a grandmother's unrevealed life story, installed at the University of Washington, Tacoma Campus, in October 2005.

Artist Biography

I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California where my passion for art and technology began in early childhood as the daughter of a feminist artist and a software engineer. I attended UC Berkeley and graduated with honors in 1989 with simultaneous Bachelor of Arts degrees in The Practice of Art and Peace & Conflict Studies. The latter is an interdisciplinary major, which allowed me to examine ways to facilitate a peaceful and just society through art, film and literature. The combination of concentrations reinforced my belief in the power of art as a vehicle for both self-expression and social change. I believe that socially-conscious contemporary art can provide community awareness and make a difference in peoples’ lives, by giving voice, challenging assumptions, and providing models of a healthier future.

In May of 2002, I completed a Master of Fine Arts at University at Buffalo where my feminist art practice included video, installation, digital arts, photography and book-making. In the summer of 2004 I relocated to Portland where I currently live, teach and make art.