Rachel Morrissey: Abstract Reality
Rachel Morrissey “Cheetah Mountain” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey
Rachel Morrissey “Lovely Maple” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “Yellow Lotus Desert” Acrylic on paper
Rachel Morrissey “Pretty Red Sun and Oranges in the Sky” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “Wisteria Mountain” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “Pink Fluffy Clouds” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “Shipwrecked Mountains” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “Daisy Sky” Acrylic on panel
Rachel Morrissey “So Tropical Right Now” Acrylic on panel
Neon colors and intricate patterns permeate Rachel Morrissey’s abstract paintings. With a background in graphic design, Rachel explores color, pattern, and mark-making, while investigating the perception of reality in a digital culture.
Interview: Hi Rachel! Tell me about your background and where your creative journey began.
I’ve been creating from the time I could hold a crayon. I always knew I wanted to be an artist in some way throughout my life. Growing up, I was always involved in extracurricular art classes outside of school, art clubs, and continuing education classes at local museums and galleries. My Nana was a landscape painter and my mother was a watercolor artist. I was surrounded by their art and influence in our home growing up. I studied for a BFA in Studio Art as an undergrad at Indiana University, drawing classes were my true passion. I also studied graphic design in fear of needing a quote on quote “real job” after undergrad. After working the grind in corporate cubicles as a designer I returned to school for a Post-Bac from SMFA in Boston in 2014 and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 2016. I would be a student in the arts forever if I had the funds to do it!
Where do you find inspiration for your work?
Social Media, Pinterest, Magazines, all places where I can find ‘landscape’ images second-hand. I pull from pattern books, interior design blogs, basically anywhere I find patterns that speak to the landscape and spaces I am creating. I also look at vintage flower, bird and nature drawings, the way they were documented in a specimen type way. My Grandmother had these bird drawings in her house that are always on the back of my mind, though these birds have not made a debut in one of my paintings yet. It was more of the treatment of the lines. I find it uncanny the way I can create these landscapes from my tiny bubble in Massachusetts of places I have never experienced in real life, but others have… It relates to our experience on social media, enjoying the world through somebody else’s gaze.
How have your paintings shifted and evolved over time?
Since becoming a Mother in 2018, my work ethic exploded. I had alway feared this shift to motherhood would silence my art practice, but the opposite happened. I became so creatively inspired by growing a life and being a caretaker of this tiny person. Practically speaking, I had to use any free hours I had in the studio very intentionally, there was no more goofing off, I needed to use my hours purposely. In graduate school I was focused on creating these giant works of art, huge pink plastic skins bedazzled in jewels, paint, glitter, spray paint and collage, but once I had my son I needed to shift focus on works that would fit into the short studio time and with materials that were safe to breathe! My works have always had major 80s/90s pop culture influence, and many similar color palettes, but now with the influence of social media, they do a dance between current and the past where I grew up.
What does a typical day in the studio look like for you, and how has your art practice grown or changed?
I still hold a part time “day-job” as a graphic designer for a marketing company, so my hours in the studio are usually limited to nighttime when my son is asleep. I spend 2-4 hours a night every night, and sometimes I can get one full day on the weekend in the studio. During the day when there is time I will do more of the ‘administrative’ tasks, planning social media content, photographing works, updating websites, applying to shows and magazine open calls. This wasn’t always the case, for many years I worked full time as a graphic designer and my studio hours were very limited or sometimes non-existent, but overtime I slowly added in more hours and made it an important part of my daily life so it feels weird now if I am not in the studio at least one hour a day. I also am lucky enough to have a studio in my home, we converted our bonus room into the perfect space completely dedicated to my art practice. This was essential when we were looking to buy a house and grow our family that I had a space to make work, especially because I work at night, and didn’t want to have to worry about traveling to a studio space late in the evenings. But I spent many years making my kitchen table my ‘studio space’ and I made it work!
How has your experience as a graphic designer influenced your work?
I think that being a graphic designer has played a huge role in my paintings. I spend a lot of time staring at screens which has informed a lot of my color choices and composition. The colors in my paintings are usually oversaturated and the shapes play homage to the vectors I work with day to day. I also do a lot of ‘brand development’ in my design work, so by the time I get to my own paintings the last thing I want to do is to stick within a limited color palette, I just want to use them all. I think that being a designer definitely helped me hone in on my art practice, I used to keep my design world and art world so separate, but now I am finding great joy in combining my experiences in both. I use Photoshop to create ALL of my compositions, ideas and sketches before I do any painting. I like how this steers the shapes and colors into the vibrant world defined by screens.
Your paintings are composed of bold, vibrant colors. What role does color play in your work?
Color plays a huge part in connecting the physicality of my paintings to the experiences in the digital world. These colors and color combinations wouldn’t exist unless we had the influence of social media and screen-time. I am always trying to play on colors that relate to RGB and over saturation that you can’t get naturally. I like to soak them into the landscapes I am creating. I also pull color influence from pattern books, looking at one specific color pattern and deciding to base an entire painting off of that theme. I love how in Pinterest you can search by colors and images, so I will often use that tool to land on new elements to add to my digital collages (before they are painted). It is funny to think that a lot of the time I will tell myself I am only allowed one or two colors in this next painting but by the end of it, it will be a confetti of colors again.
How has Instagram impacted your career as an artist?
I think it has opened many doors to connecting with new artists from all over the world. I have discovered art podcasts, Crit groups, art fairs, galleries, art advisors and so many more resources that have really started to shape my art career that I would have otherwise never found out about. I have been able to raise money for causes I am passionate about through art sales directly from my Instagram page which was really amazing. It is so wonderful to meet collectors on Instagram! I hope to make more art sales, connect with potential galleries and collectors, and to continue to be able to use the platform to learn and grow as an artist.
What are your future goals and aspirations?
So many goals! I hope that a year from now that I will be working on my artwork full-time, that it will be my main source of income. I hope to find gallery representation somewhere that really values and understands my work. I want to continue to connect and collaborate with new artists and artist communities and stay involved with the ones I am currently a part of. I am working on a solo-show proposal that I hope to get out the door in early 2021; fingers crossed that it lands somewhere!
Website: https://www.rachelmo.com
Instagram: @rachelmorrisseyart