ARTIST BIO

Born and working in Manchester, UK, figurative artist Rachel Clancy explores themes of trickery through creating illusive surfaces built up through layers of oil paint. She is interested in how the process of layering in painting mimics the deceptive nature of a magic trick, hiding and revealing clues within the paintings. 

 

Her practice is deep-rooted in the technique of painting and its physical properties that allow for creating varying surfaces. Surrounded by a fast-paced, digitally influenced society, she is passionate about the importance of looking and gestating in contemporary painting. This is reflected in her slow, intricate act of painting, which encourages the viewer to pause and contemplate when encountering the works.

 

Mundane, everyday objects appear throughout the paintings, yet their context is distorted through playful, obscure compositions. Scenes in the works are often cropped, and explore the presence and non-presence of a figure through explorations of domestic spaces.