Built with Berta.me

  1. About

  2. Rachel Stanley (b.1996, Epsom, based in Edinburgh, UK) is a painter whose practice speculates on the possibilities between abstraction and figuration. Taking reference from natural forms and the human body, the paintings perform a shifting of perspectives - looking across, over, under and through - in order to obscure and undo the landscape. Bringing sentience to otherwise static forms, the works exist in a grey ‘between' area, suggesting double meanings and requiring multiple visits.

    The works employ a playful consideration of materiality and surface, utilising burlap, calico and muslin in place of canvas, and painting in varying degrees of thickness - gently staining, thickly layering, and using gestural mark-making more akin to drawing. This is an intuitive and sensory process, whereby paintings reveal themselves over time.

    Rachel studied at Goldsmiths (2014-17) before undertaking her MA at Edinburgh College of Art (2021-22). Recent exhibitions include An Elastic Continuum, S1 Artspace (Sheffield, 2023), Plume, Crownpoint Studios (Glasgow, 2023), At The Edge of Everything, Cabin (Berlin, 2023), Salt Lick, Whitespace Gallery (Edinburgh, 2022); Separate Ways Together, Wondering People (London, 2022) and Cruel Intentions, Arusha Gallery, (London, 2021).

  3. All content © Rachel Stanley 2024