Rachel Hall | SCCArtGalleries

The human form is a symphony of expression. The tilt of a hip, the presence or absence of a direct gaze, the tension or release of a pose, these all capture the fleeting phases of emotion that is threaded through the human condition. These different phases of emotion can be sparked by both physical and psychological sources. Influencing my own work is my genetic connective tissue disorder. My disorder causes chronic joint and muscle pain. There are good days and bad days concerning my level of pain. This body of work is about exploring these fluctuating cycles through drawing and painting the human form.

I always start in my sketchbook with an initial concept and layout of composition and color. For this body of work, I gathered reference from life, past sketches, and/or photographs I have taken. Although I normally have a set plan for each piece, I also like to allow a piece to take me along for the ride, and in doing so, I end up with something pleasantly unexpected. My primary medium is oil paint on canvas but I also work with chalk pastel and charcoal on paper. I believe that the sketch, the first mark an artist puts down, is the artist’s purest reaction to a subject, so I retain a certain looseness in my work to keep that feeling alive. - Rachel Hall