Rachel Sard: Insofar

Rachel Sard: Insofar is a celebration of texture, luminosity, and transparency through painting. Rachel is fascinated by the slight imperfections and subtle tonal shifts in often overlooked objects. The subjects of Rachel’s work — a pile of stones, discarded onion peels, a mass of oyster shells — become vessels through which she can explore the optical qualities of paint, taking the slightest nuances of light to the furthest possible visible moment. In Insofar — her first museum exhibition — Rachel exposes the peculiar attributes of familiar subjects, such as the plum shades of a smooth pebble or the pocked surface of a rippled clam shell.

Rachel’s works are exhaustively detailed studies that feature densely packed subject matter bursting toward the edge of the canvas, pushing realism precariously close to abstraction. Her paintings encourage viewers to look closely and deliberately, revealing the artist’s subtle but purposeful brushstrokes. Rachel’s creative process is an exercise in stamina and precision, as she can take months to complete one painting, revisiting each canvas over time to make meticulous changes to her compositions.

Many of the works in Insofar were inspired by objects Rachel selected from the Stamford Museum’s natural history collection. Insofar includes many of the objects that served as her source material exhibited alongside their respective paintings to create a unique visual dialogue between the artist, her process, and her inspiration.

The SM&NC has organized this exhibition in conjunction with Artist Rachel Sard.