Rachel Wilcox is a New England artist who was born and raised in Haverhill, MA, and graduated from The Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration. She currently works full-time out of her studio in Amesbury, MA, and is represented by Edgewater Gallery in Middlebury, VT and Threadneedle Gallery in Newburyport, MA. Rachel’s work can be found in public and private collections across the country.

Artist Statement:

“I love exploring different ways to manipulate oil paint. I am completely enamored with all of its qualities and it is always my goal to express that to the viewer. I enjoy figuring out the simplest way to communicate an idea or express a feeling or mood.

Subject matter, to me, is always secondary. I prefer to work in series because it allows me to fully explore different themes, as I dislike being bound to any one subject. But some ideas resurface in much of my work. Memory, perception and the passage of time are concepts that I feel compelled to explore, as well as the abstract nature of reality. Even my most representational paintings have to function in the abstract for me to feel that the painting really works.

I also love a good challenge! I am attracted to visual chaos; I strive to organize and control it. My mind seeks out the patterns and I find comfort in creating some kind of order on the canvas. With the use of intuitive mark-making, my goal is always to simplify. Patterns of form and movement, of light and shadow, are the engines behind my work. This is what drives my creative process, but painting itself is always the point.”