RACHEL SIMINOSKI
March 18-20 // HOME STUDIO // CHARLOTTE, NC
Rachel Siminoski is a painter currently based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She received her BFA in Drawing and Printmaking from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2017. After graduating, Rachel worked in an art gallery for a year, and then moved on to work for a screen printing company in the Charlotte area all while balancing her art practice. Some highlights include a solo exhibition of her work at Delurk Gallery in Winston-Salem, NC, and a month-long residency at Main Street Arts in upstate New York this past year.
www.rachelsiminoski.com
I started off my 48 hour Shelter residency by reflecting on COVID-19 and how it has affected my family. Currently six months pregnant, anxieties have been high as I’ve been stuck inside due to the growing pandemic. My fiancé has two wonderful children who have been out of school due to cancellations, and I have been thinking/worrying about them and all of our other family members as well. Being able to lean into my studio practice during this time was a welcomed distraction.
It felt cathartic to write down my thoughts, and reflect on my work. I wasn’t able to make much during my first trimester of my pregnancy, so I wanted to take the opportunity to reassess what I was making previously. I used to feel bound to self-imposed guidelines that I no longer feel obligated to follow- things that I’m not sure would have been realized, or at least not as quickly, if it weren’t for my time away from the studio.
I think of my paintings as internal landscapes or enclosures. These spaces consist of various biomorphic and somewhat structural forms, which protect, cover, surround, and support each other. My interest in creating such spaces stem from my interest in symbiotic relationships, and the intersection of protection and separation.
I continued to write frequently throughout the two days, and found comfort in the quiet time to myself.
I’ve been working sporadically on the large painting pictured above for a handful of months now, and decided that I wanted to devote a good chunk of my time solidifying it. It had lost a sense of direction, and after doing some sketching and planning I felt as though I was able to make significant progress.
The addition of color to my work is relatively new- for quite some time they have been exclusively grayscale. I’ve always favored gray because of how neutral it is- no blatant symbolism or immediate representational affiliation (e.g. blue often equates to sky or water). Now I’m realizing that perhaps that doesn’t best suit my work anymore. Just acknowledging these things and welcoming any changes that come…
Green is a nice color. Peaceful.
In addition to writing and working on the green painting, I was able to make some changes to a smaller piece, which I think may be finished. I’m going to sit with it for a few days before I decide, but I’m excited by how my work has been evolving. A lot of things have changed in my life over the past year, so it only seems right that the work would change along with me.
In between longer stretches of time, I made a couple quick acrylic sketches on Yupo paper. It was relaxing to make something without any expectations. It’s ironic how easy it can be to be hard on yourself. I know I have been putting pressure on myself to crank out as much work as possible to compensate for the time “lost” during my first trimester, and inevitably the lack of work that will be made once my son is born. Given the short time allotted for the residency, I found it was easy to stay on task. It was nice ending the day feeling productive, even without leaving the house. I hope that I can continue to be kind to myself, particularly given these unusual circumstances.
